Anthropology short notes · Paper 1

Cultural materialism (Harris)

(g) Cultural materialism (Harris)

Part of Anthropological theories:

Short notes

Cultural materialism (Harris)

Definition

ETIC (Outsider’s Scientific Perspective)

Example / case study

  • M Harris examples(Abtes, USSR, Sacred cow, Islam)
  • Increase in marriage age despite same biological adolescence
  • Some cultural practices become maladaptive when conditions change.
  • Practices once useful may become harmful or irrelevant.

Thinkers

  • Bronislaw Malinowski — participant observation; culture exists to satisfy biological and psychological needs.
  • • Structural Functionalism – Radcliffe-Brown