ANTH 313 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Social Darwinism

• School: University of Calgary
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: ANTH 313
• Professor: Matthew Walls

Document Summary

Haenn & wilk, chapter 1 julian steward (1955) the concept and method of cultural ecology. Nature & culture julia(cid:374) te(cid:449)ard"s cultural e(cid:272)ology. Cultural ecology was partly a reaction against historical particularism. Historical particularism: the idea that each culture has a unique historical development, and can only be understood within its own cultural context. (cid:862)culturall(cid:455) pres(cid:272)ri(cid:271)ed (cid:449)a(cid:455)s(cid:863) as a(cid:374) e(cid:454)pla(cid:374)ator(cid:455) fra(cid:373)e(cid:449)ork i(cid:374) hp. Cultural e(cid:272)ology"s ce(cid:374)tral pro(cid:271)le(cid:373) (cid:862)the pro(cid:271)le(cid:373) is to as(cid:272)ertai(cid:374) (cid:449)hether the adjust(cid:373)e(cid:374)ts of hu(cid:373)a(cid:374) societies require particular modes of behavior of whether they permit latitude for a certain range of possible behavior patter(cid:374)s. (cid:863) Is this deterministic: he thinks not, because in earlier evolutionary theory (social darwinism), it was taken for granted that a particular feature of a culture is shaped by top down environmental pressures. The idea that all features of a culture are interdependent, from rituals, to social organization, to livelihood.