ANTHRO 2A Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Lewis H. Morgan, Social Evolution, Carl Linnaeus
8 Jun 2016
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Week 3: homo sapiens americanus: red, ill tempered subjugated. Ruled by custom. : homo sapiens afer: black, impassive, lazy. Attempt to understand the diversity of people in the world. Social evolution 19th century theory of societies complex societies. Barbarism: agriculture, domestication of animals, metal working (pueblo indians, chinese) o. Supported by ideas of progress and laissez-faire economics understanding cultural and linguistic diversity ideas about diversity (cambridge, oxford) The belief that all contemporary primitives were descended from people who enjoyed civilization prior to the destruction of the tower of babel. Societies using simple technologies are not stone age people lacking history. Biological evolution: g1 > genes > g2. Social transmission: g1 > enculturation > g2. Social evolution + racial determinism = social darwinism. The ideology that justified colonial rule over less socially evolved people. A priori thinking = we know the answer before hand. We know the answer because obvious or common sense.
