The anthropological studies of Cultural Ecology and Environmental Anthropology represents differing schools of thoughts when it comes to understanding the “making” of “culture”. Nevertheless, both Cultural Ecology and Environmental Anthropology implement the ideology of “nature”, consisting facets of landscape, geography, and the environment as the focal methodology to investigate the construction of what we know as “culture”. In this case, pioneers of Cultural Ecology such as Leslie White develop their understanding of how the physical environment directly affects the production of cultural systems and its adaptive strategies through technology advancements (White 1943: pg. 335). On the other hand, advocates of Environmental Anthropology …show more content…
343-347). To understand this hierarchical progression, White suggested that the technological component is the determinant factor that leads to social organization and develop adaptive ideologies of individuals in the group to better survive in their environment (White 1943: pg. 343-347). For example, White would suggest that cultural beliefs, practices and even societal roles can be ascertained through how a particular society build the material means of a house through the invention of technology such as “the balloon frame” or the type of wood they use to build house pillars (Cronon 1991: pg 46 -54). As opposed to White’s materialist approach, Julian Steward’s idea of Cultural Ecology was influenced by Boas’ idealist approach, introducing the idea of how human thoughts and ideologies are the determinant factor on the ways they became adaptive towards their environment. This can be examined through the potlatch tradition practiced by the natives of Pacific Coast, where distributing their goods and belongings as their cultural traditions were encouraged amongst people in the group (Orlove 1980: pg. 237). In this case, Steward would suggest that potlatch traditions were developed through mutual ideologies amongst people in the group to …show more content…
Based on the premise of Leslie White’s ideas, the relationship between the production of “culture” and what we know as “nature” seemed to be reduced and understood into one strict formula addressing the utilization of technology onto environment as the independent variable, where the production of cultural materials, beliefs, practices, were derived from this particular factor (Wardlow 2015: Lecture Notes). This is a flawed argument, because it tends to disregard and ignore facets of human free-will, and their cultural ideas that may have contributed into progressing their skills to adapt to their environment and produce cultural materials, beliefs and practices in the first place. Moreover, White’s hierarchical progression of favoring technology as the foundation of cultural progression, and imposing categories such as technology, social and ideology as separate domains gives a false differentiation and disregard their possibilities of influencing one another (Wardlow 2015: Lecture Notes). Similar critique was given towards Julian Steward’s Cultural Ecology perspective, as the idea of cultural practices and beliefs being constructed solely to adapt to their respective environment and judge on its efficiency to determine the cultural progression is
Jared Diamond, author of the Pulitzer Prize Winning, National Best Selling book Guns, Germs and Steel, summarizes his book by saying the following: "History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves." Guns, Germs and Steel is historical literature that documents Jared Diamond's views on how the world as we know it developed. However, is his thesis that environmental factors contribute so greatly to the development of society and culture valid? Traditions & Encounters: A Brief Global History is the textbook used for this class and it poses several different accounts of how society and culture developed that differ from Diamond's claims. However, neither Diamond nor Traditions are incorrect. Each poses varying, yet true, accounts of the same historical events. Each text chose to analyze history in a different manner. Not without flaws, Jared Diamond makes many claims throughout his work, and provides numerous examples and evidence to support his theories. In this essay, I will summarize Jared Diamond's accounts of world history and evolution of culture, and compare and contrast it with what I have learned using the textbook for this class.
Anthropology is the study of the development of humankind within their different cultures. When one looks inside a culture, they can see the true aspects and meanings behind a societies behavior and traits. By following the principle that is cultural relativism, one can also determine that no culture truly surpasses another culture, and that each society has key differences that are important to its culture and location. This is a method that can also be seen in many intriguing films from this semester, one in particular being The Emerald Forest. Throughout this essay, this film will be analyzed around one character who greatly represents what it means to truly immerse oneself into a different culture to gain a new perspective, and many key terms in anthropology will be explored through 4 different films from the semester.
The culture of a community invariably determines the social structures and the formation of a society. Developed over time, culture is the collection of beliefs and values that a group of people maintain together. Culture is never constant, and thought to be continually renewed over years as new ideas and concepts become mainstream. It ranges from how people live, day to day topics for conversations, religion, and even entertainment. It is analogous to guidelines, or the rulebook of the said group of people. Society, on the other hand, emanates from the social structure of the community. It is the very institutions to which create a regulated and acceptable form of interaction between peoples. Indeed, culture and society are so perversely intertwined in a
Culture is therefore defined as the connection between ideas (conditioning elements of further action) and (products of) action. Using Kroeber’s definition we find that manifestations of culture and culture itself existed throughout the diverse native tribes of precolonial California. For example, off the northern coast of California existed the Pomo tribe. Women belonging to the tribe learned centuries old techniques on how to weave baskets interlaced with patterns unique to their group. How was this tradition able to survive without a manual giving instruction on how to produce
Ethnography is a research method used to explore different cultures from a personal view. Many anthropologists have sought to use ethnography as their main study method because of its specificity and opportunity to get hands on. Those that participate in ethnographies are expected to accurately record detailed accounts of the society in which they are staying, but at the same time maintain a critical distance.
Nanda, S and Warms, R.L. (2011). Cultural Anthropology, Tenth Edition. Belmont, California: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN – 13:978-0-495-81083-4.
Moreover, as explicated by (Tan, 2016), culture was historically linked to the processes of colonization which is used by European anthropologists to describe the ways of life of others characterizing non-European societies as less civilized, barbaric, and primitive, thus lacking “culture.” In fact, this prompted the supposition that European culture is better than other culture and utilized as a support for colonization. From that point on, a polarity grew to stratify social orders into high and low
culture rather than nature . . . [they] are neither timeless or transcendent” (264). In other words,
also films that could have been seen for a small price, but if one has the time
In his essay, “What is Culture?”, Kluckhohn explains the differences and similarities amongst world’s peoples. To support his explanation of the differences and similarities he provides the concept of culture. It is difficult to give this concept a precise definition because the word “culture” is a broad term. Kluckhohn allows the reader to understand the concept of culture by providing examples of cultural differences along with some anthropological evidence to support his views.
Welsch, Robert L, and Kirk M Endicott. “Should Cultural Anthropology Model itself on the Natural Science.” Taking sides clashing views on controversial issues in cultural anthropology. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.
This chapter explores the idea of landscape in an anthropological construct. Hirsch aims to move away from the western ideals of understanding of landscape, and deconstruct it in an attempt to understand the local interoperation of landscape to prove it is part of a cultural process. Landscape has been used as a “standard framing device” (p1) by those looking from the outside in across anthropological history. Hirsch is looking to explore the landscape through the cultural understandings of the local people. (p1-5)
Anthropology is known as the study of human beings, over time and space. We often look at anthropology as just the evolution of mankind and their basic development. After taking a class in Cultural Anthropology, I’ve come to realize how much more in depth it is. There are many different aspects that we do not look at. We do not need to be anthropologists to see how these concepts can apply to our daily lives. Anthropology makes you to look at the world differently than you were taught too. Cultural anthropology, has a holistic approach that helps us to see how one society relates to itself and how that society can be taken on its own terms without bias. It helps to identify our own way of viewing various different cultures around the world and realize that the way we do things and see things may not be the only right way there is. There are other people around the world that are different from us and do things differently that we are used to or that we find to be “the right way”.
Culture may be defined as the sum totaltotal of non-biological activities of a people. For anthropologists like Marvin Harris (1974). Culture is directly related to concrete material conditions of existence. It is a set of altitudinal and behavioral tools as well as a map of adapting to one’s environment. Culture is thus essentially adaptive. Following the concept of cultural relativism espoused by Margaret Mead (1968) it is the view of this article that culture must be seen asbe specific and valid in particular circumstances with value judgement as to its relative significance to other groups, even within the same nation-state or society. The point that is therefore being made is that there are some particularities of culture that characterize