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Cultural materialism (anthropology)

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Cultural materialism is an anthropological research orientation first introduced by Marvin Harris in his 1968 book The Rise of Anthropological Theory,[1] as a theoretical paradigm and research strategy. It is said to be the most enduring achievement of that work.[2] Harris subsequently developed a full elaboration and defense of the paradigm in his 1979 book Cultural Materialism.[3] To Harris social change is dependent of three factors: a society's infrastructure, structure, and superstructure.[4]

Harris's concept of cultural materialism was influenced by the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, as well as their theories as modified by Karl August Wittfogel and his 1957 book, Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power.[5] Yet this materialism is distinct from Marxist dialectical materialism, as well as from philosophical materialism.[6] Thomas Malthus's work encouraged Harris to consider reproduction of equal importance to production. The research strategy was also influenced by the work of earlier anthropologists including Herbert Spencer, Edward Tylor and Lewis Henry Morgan who, in the 19th century, first proposed that cultures evolved from the less complex to the more complex over time. Leslie White and Julian Steward and their theories of cultural evolution and cultural ecology were instrumental in the reemergence of evolutionist theories of culture in the 20th century and Harris took inspiration from them in formulating cultural materialism.

  1. ^ Harris, Marvin (2001a) [First published 1968], The Rise of Anthropological Theory: A History of Theories of Culture, Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press, ISBN 978-0-7591-0132-6, retrieved 10 September 2010 Paperback ISBN 0-7591-0133-7
  2. ^ Margolis, Maxine L (2001), "Introduction", in Marvin Harris (ed.), The Rise of Anthropological Theory: A History of Theories of Culture, 2001a (first published 1968), p. x
  3. ^ Harris, Marvin (2001b) [First published 1979], Cultural Materialism: the Struggle for a Science of Culture (Updated ed.), Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press, ISBN 978-0-7591-0134-0, retrieved 10 September 2010 Paperback ISBN 0-7591-0135-3
  4. ^ Frank, Elwell (2001), Harris on the Universal structure of societies, archived from the original on 2015-09-30
  5. ^ Harris (2001a), p. 673ff.
  6. ^ Moore, Jerry D (2004), "Marvin Harris: Cultural Materialism", Visions of Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theories and Theorists (2nd ed.), Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, pp. 203–215, ISBN 978-0-7591-0410-5, retrieved 10 September 2010 Paperback ISBN 0-7591-0411-5

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