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Cultural Materialism

Leonie von Platen

Laura Vleerlaag

Anniek Uitenbroek

A theoretical perspective founded by Marvin Harris

19th century

Important names that inspired Marvin Harris in the theoretical perspective of Cultural Materialism

19th centruy

Karl Marx

1818-1883

Harris's cultural materialism is inspired by Marxist theories. Even though cultural materialism is an expansion of Marxist materialism, it differs from its dialectic perspective.

Karl Marx

Antonio Gramsci

1891-1937

Antonio Gramsci was an Italian Marxist philosopher. He developed the concept of 'cultural hegemony' based on Marxist theory. The concept implies idea that the ruling class determines the dominant ideology (superstructure).

Harris's theory of cultural materialism lacks class theory and the dialectic perspective. He suggests that the infrastructure of society should be adaptive to the environment and determines social change.

1920s

1920s

The Great Depression

The Great Depression

The great depression (economic crisis) resulted in businesses failing and a dramatic rise in unemployment.

For many Black Americans, the depression merely intensified already existing inequalities.

Raymond Williams

1921-1988

Raymond Williams was a Welsh novelist accredited with a lot of cultural materialist work. He was a socialist inspired by Marxism.

Raymond Williams

Marvin Harris

1921-2001

Harris is the founder of the theoretical perspective of cultural materialism.

Harris is born in Brooklyn, New York. He earned his Ph. D. from Columbia in 1953 and was an anthropology professor there until 1980.

Names that have inspired him are already mentioned. His books and the historical context of his work will be elaborated further in the timeline.

1950s

1957 Fieldwork in Mozambique

1957 Mozambique

During Harris's fieldwork in Mozambique he devoloped his theory of cultural materialism, which is explained in his book the Rise of Anthropological Theory. The fieldwork made his anthropological focus shift from ideological thought to behavioral aspects.

Vietnam war in US

1954–1975

Vietnam War US

1954–1975

The US involvement in the Vietnam war. Caused the hippie movement to appear in the mainstream through their protests against the Vietnam war

1960s

Civil Rights Movement & Counter Culture

Civil Rights Movement

& Counter

Culture

The counter culture movement brought up important aspects such as anti-war, civil rights, protection of the environment, as well as previously held taboos such as sex and drugs.

By the end of the 1960s, the civil rights movement was already well underway.

It sought to abolish institutional racial segregation and discrimination.

Hippie movement

A counter culture that sprouted in the 1960's. They were attempting to change the base of society by rejecting the establishment and materialism.

The hippies were known for their psychedelic drugs, promotion of love and peace and protests against the Vietnam war.

Hippie culture

1968 The Rise of Anthropological Theory

1968

The RAT

This is the first book of Marvin Harris, which first explained his theoretical perspective of cultural materialism. Harris provided a critical view on anthropological theories and idealistic theories. His findings were based on his fieldwork in Mozambique.

1970s

Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: the riddles of culture

1974

Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture

1974

One of Marvin Harris' most influencial works. His famous article ' The Cultural Ecology of India’s Sacred Cattle' came from this book. In this he depics a lot of examples of his idea of infrastructure, the way people shape their lives to the enviroment to ensure and optimize survival.

Cannibals and Kings

1977

Cannibals and kings

1977

Another of Harris' influential works. This is the book that describes the analogy of the Aztects as cannibals in order to include enough protein in their diet.

1980s

The Cold War and Reagan

Americans embraced a new form of economic conservatism propagated by the Reagan administration. The threat of communism also drove this conservatism.

Reagan advocated for reductions in government spending and tax cuts, allowing people with money to keep more of it. This plan for the economy proved less successful when it came to the main objective of balancing the budget.

Then came the most significant recession since the 1920s, unemployment rose, and businesses closed.

1980 Culture and Materialism

1980 Culture and Materialism

Culture and Materialism is a book written by Raymond Williams in which he elaborated on the philosophical and theoretical perspective of cultural materialism.

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