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Home , Cultural ecology, Cultural relativism, Julian Steward

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4 individual noncapitalist . One major difference that is noticed by social scientists is the degree of complexity in social structures between one Cultural ecology is the study of the adaptation of a cul- and another. It is argued that the differing degrees of ture to a specific environment and how changes in that complexity of the social relations are directly related environment lead to changes in that specific . to different productive levels, including how effi- It also focuses on how the overall environment, natural ciently a technology can utilize a particular environ- resources available, technology, and population density ment to support the people of that . affect the rest of the culture and how a traditional sys- With changes in the organization of labor, there tem of beliefs and behavior allows people to adapt to are corresponding changes in the relationship to their environment. Interplay between any population . With increasing complexity of technology and their environment is the subject of ecological studies. and social organization, societies move through these Cultural ecologists study how humans in their society diverse variations to a more restrictive control over and through specific interact with the larger property, and eventually, with a state society, there environment. In the case of human beings, much of develop restrictions on access to property, based upon the behavior involved in interaction with the environ- membership in different economic classes. ment is learned behavior that has become part of the A social system is a dynamic interaction between reserve of learned skills, technology, and other cultural people, as well as a dynamic interaction between responses of a people in a society. people and . The production for human subsis- tence is the foundation upon which society ultimately stands. From the creation of the specific methods Marx of production of an economic system, people, in turn, Much of cultural ecology was founded on Marx’s establish their corresponding set of ideas. People are . Marx claimed there are real regularities the creators of their social ideologies. People are con- in nature and society that are independent of our tinually changed by the of their productive consciousness. This changes, and this change forces and of the relationships associated with these has patterned consistencies that can be observed and productive forces. People continuously change nature, understood. Tensions within the very structure of this and thus continually change themselves in the process. reality form the basis of this change. These changes The study of history begins with the material or add up until the structure itself is something other objective organization of people living their everyday than the original organization. A new entity is then lives. This is set into motion by means of a people’s formed with its own tensions or contradictions. relationship with nature, as expressed in their social and When studying a society, the research should begin cultural lives. Through these relationships, humans with a people’s interaction with nature. Humans, produce their own means of subsistence. Each genera- through their labor, produce the means of their own tion inherits and reproduces this means of subsistence survival. The environment, natural and social, in and then changes it to fit their changed needs. This his- which people provide the basis of their own survival, torically and culturally specific setting shapes individ- becomes central to the analysis of a society. ual human nature. This means that how people are Through the means of production, which includes organized and interact is determined by production. technology, environment, population pressure, and Production molds all other social relations. This work relationships, a people are able to take from includes the relation of one nation to another as well nature what they need to survive; this, in turn, creates as the internal social structure of a single nation. With what is possible for the various parts of the super- every new change in the forces of production, there structure. Any study of the historical change of a exists corresponding change in the relations of pro- people must assume economic factors will be of first duction. These changes lead to changes in the division importance. The economic primacy is not absolute, of labor. With changes in the division of labor, there however, because each of the various parts of a society are changes in the property relations of the nation. has its own continual influence on the social whole. Ultimately, this means ideological changes as well. Researchers who study noncapitalist societies The first historical act is the production to satisfy become aware that major differences do exist between material life. Following the first historical act is the C-Birx-4715.qxd 9/12/2005 4:11 PM Page 629

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production of new needs that are the practical result of selected features. It is important to pick out distinctive satisfying the needs of material life. People reproduce configurations of causally interdependent features of themselves, their families, and their culture daily. These cultures under study. These features are determined acts of production and reproduction are prearranged by a particular research problem within its own frame by the historical past of a people, but this very activity of reference. The researcher chooses specific physiog- changes both the people and their culture. With the nomies that have similar functional interrelationship changes, the needs of a people are changed; old needs with one another. are redefined or eliminated, and new needs are created. For example, economic patterns are important With these ever-changing needs, the development of because they are more directly related to other social, human life is both social and natural. Humans are both cultural, and political configurations. This is the cul- the animal creations of nature and the social creations tural core. These comparative associations are the of society. With this, each society creates its own social particular attributes of patterned organization in an organization based upon its own historical mode of evolutionary sequence. Universal evolutionary stages production. The nature of society is based upon the are much too broad to tell us anything concrete about mode of production and consciousness. People’s rela- any particular culture. The changes from one stage tions to nature mold their relations with each other. to another are based upon particular historical and People’s relations with one another affect their rela- cultural ecological arrangements unique for each tions to nature. Borrowing from Marx, then, produc- society. Exceptionalism is the norm. Global trends tion, human needs, population pressure, and change and external influences interact with a locally specific make up cultural ecology. environment, causing each society to have a unique evolutionary trajectory. Cultural ecology is a look at cultural features in relation to specific environmental circumstances, Julian Steward coined the term cultural ecology, which with unique behavioral patterns that are related to is a continuation of his theory of multilinear evolution. cultural adjustments to distinctive environmental Multilinear evolution searches for regularities in concerns. cultural change. Cultural laws can be defined that Cultures are made up of interrelated parts. The explain these changes. Determinism is not the issue, degree of interdependence varies in the ways in which but patterns of historical change follow patterns of an some traits have more influence than other character- interaction between parts of a society and the larger istics. The cultural core is grouped around subsistence environment. Cultural traditions have distinctive activities and economic relationships. Secondary fea- elements that can be studied in context. Similarities tures are more closely related to historical contingen- and differences between cultures are meaningful and cies and less directly related to the environment. change in meaningful ways. The evolution of recur- Cultural ecology focuses upon attributes immersed rent forms, processes, and functions in different in the social subsistence activity within the specific societies has similar explanations. Each society has its environment in a culturally directed fashion. Changes own specific historical movement through time. This are in part alterations in technology and productive prefaces cross-. arrangements as a result of the changing environment. Cultural ecology is the adaptation by a unique Whether these technological innovations are accepted culture modified historically in a distinctive environ- or not depends upon environmental constraints and ment. With this definition, Steward outlined a creative cultural requirements. Population pressure and its rel- process of cultural change. Steward focused on recur- ative stability are important. Also, internal division of rent themes that are understandable by limited cir- labor, regional specialization, environmental tension, cumstances and distinct situations. This helps to and economic surplus create the cultural conditions in establish specific means of identifying and classifying which technological innovation becomes attractive, cultural types. Cultural type is an ideal heuristic tool leading to other cultural changes. These social adapta- designed for the study of cross-cultural parallels and tions have profound effects upon the , politics, regularities. This analytical instrument allows assem- and social relations of a group. bling regularities in cultures with vastly different Culture, according to Steward, is a means of adapta- histories. This type of classification is based upon tion to environmental needs. Before specific resources C-Birx-4715.qxd 9/12/2005 4:11 PM Page 630

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can be used, the necessary technology is required. constant factor in studying social change. The social Also, social relations reflect technological and envi- consciousness, while being the product of real material ronmental concerns. These social relations organize relations of society, in turn has an impact on those specific patterns of behavior and its supportive values. social relations. This feedback loop is central to under- A holistic approach to cultural studies is required to standing the historical dynamics of society. Social see the interrelationship of the parts. consciousness becomes the collective reflection of The researcher begins with the study of the rela- social relations. Through social consciousness, people tionship between technologies of a people and how become aware of and act upon nature and society. they exploit their environment for their survival. To Even though forms of social consciousness reflect a use these technologies within an environmental setting, specific social existence, this social whole is not a static certain behavior patterns are established. The interac- or passive relationship. The ideological superstructure tion between labor (behavior patterns) and the con- is different in each community and changes as the eco- nection between technology and the environment nomic relations of that society change. More precisely, has a reciprocal relationship with other aspects of there is an interactive relationship of all the parts of culture, including ideology. society. Economics is the most important of all these interactive parts. From this, the forms of commonly held feelings, religious expressions, ways of thinking, Cultural and, over all, , including the different forms expanded upon cultural ecology and of property relations, are established. The ideology of called his approach “cultural materialism.” Human a society reflects the social conditions of its existence. communities are fused with nature through work, Through the means of production, which includes and work is structured through social organization. technology, environment, also called infrastructure, This is the basis of the industry of all societies. Social and work relationships, called structure, a people are science must reflect this if it is to understand the able to take from nature what they need to survive. deeper underlying connections between specific This interaction, in turn, creates what is possible for the social actions and global trends. In this, industry, various parts of the superstructure. The superstructure commerce, production, exchange, and distribution includes not only the ideology but also the social psy- establish the social structure, which, in turn, gives chology of a people. The superstructure and structure birth to the ideological possibilities of any culture. are ultimately molded and limited by the infrastructure. Along these lines, social-economic classes are deter- The infrastructure sets the limits of what is possible for mined by the interaction between technology and both the structure and superstructure. social organization in a particular environment. The The interaction between social organization (struc- needs of every society and the individuals in that ture) and the use of a technology within an environ- society must be met; this, in turn, creates its own ment (infrastructure) can be used to understand many ideological support. With the development of capi- particulars about the total culture. The evolution from talist society, for example, science develops to meet band-level society to tribal-level society, tribal to chief- the needs of its economic requirements. Even more dom, and chiefdom to state-level society has to take important, science is established as the integrating into consideration changes in the organization of principles of modern industrial capitalism. This is pos- labor, including the growing division of labor and, sible because the principal ideas of any class society are ultimately, changes in the technology used by a people. that of the ruling class. Those who control the mater- With changes in the organization of labor, there are ial forces of society also define the values and beliefs corresponding changes in the relationship to prop- of that society. Workers are subject to those ideas, erty. With increasing complexity of technology and while the dominant ideology reflects the dominant social organization, societies move through these material relations of the society. In this, Marxism, cul- various stages to a more restrictive control over prop- tural ecology, and cultural materialism have similar erty, and eventually, with a state society, there develop thoughts on the subject. restrictions on access to property, based upon mem- The complex relationships between the material bership in economic classes. base of technology, the environment, population Marxism, cultural ecology, and cultural materialism pressure, and the ideological superstructure are a all agree that a social system is a dynamic interaction C-Birx-4715.qxd 9/12/2005 4:11 PM Page 631

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between people, as well as a dynamic interaction between people and nature. The production for human Harris, M. (1980). Cultural materialism: The subsistence is the foundation upon which society struggle for a science of culture. New York: Vintage ultimately stands. In producing what people need to Books. live, people also produce their corresponding set of Harris, M. (1998). Theories of culture in postmodern ideas. People are the creators of their ideologies, times. Walnut Creek, CA: Rowman & Littlefield. Netting, R. M. (1977). Cultural ecology. Menlo Park, because people are continually changed by the evolu- CA: Benjamin/Cummings. tion of their productive forces; they are always chang- Steward, J. H. (1955). Theory of : The ing their relationships associated with these productive methodology of multilinear evolution. Urbana: forces. People continuously change nature and thus University of Illinois Press. continually change themselves in the process.

Cultural Core as Used After Steward Cultural core is the central idea of cultural ecology. 4 Current scholars in the field add the use of symbolic and ceremonial behavior to economic subsistence as an active part of the cultural core. The result of cul- Cultural relativism is the idea that beliefs are affected tural beliefs and practices leads to long-term sustain- by and best understood within the context of culture. ability of natural resources. The symbolic ideology It is a theory and a tool used by and becomes as important as economics in the cultural social scientists for recognizing the natural tendency core. Through cultural decisions, people readapt to to judge other cultures in comparison to their own a changing environment. This opens the door for a and for adequately collecting and analyzing informa- critical ; the can act as tion about other cultures, without this bias. Cultural an advocate for groups threatened by corporate relativism was born out of and can also be applied to agricultural concerns. The humanistic approach does , which is the philosophical study of not negate anthropology as a social science. The new human knowledge. Empiricism is the theory that anthropology has a new activist approach by recog- knowledge and understanding come from experience nizing that different agents may have competing with the world. Cognitive relativists claim that dif- interests in resource management. Any historical fering belief systems are equally valuable, such as analysis of important issues must include indigenous theories about what exists and how people interact knowledge in maintaining not only long-term sus- with the world. Epistemological relativism acknowl- tainability but also protecting the rights of those most edges the role one’s environment plays in influencing vulnerable. an individual’s beliefs and even the concepts behind the words contained in a language. — Michael Joseph Francisconi is often mistakenly assumed to be the same concept as cultural relativism. While See also Anthropology, Economic; Cultural Conserva- there are similarities, there are also key differences. tion; Culture Change; Economics and Anthropology; Relativistic moral judgments are determined relative Marxism; Materialism, Cultural; Steward, Julian H. or according to the values and beliefs held by a partic- ular culture. In the extreme sense this implies that there is no universal right and wrong in . Most Further Readings ethicists consider relativistic theories to be inferior Bodley, John H. (1999). Victims of progress (4th ed.). to stricter normative, or rule-directed, theories that Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. prescribe how a person ought to act. (If there is no Bodley, J. H. (2000). Anthropology and contemporary human problems (4th ed.). Mountain View, CA: absolute right and wrong, then there is no purpose in Mayfield. debating ethical questions. Morality would be empty Foster, J. B. (2000). Marx’s ecology: Materialism and and instead just describe how people act rather than nature. New York: Monthly Review. how they ought to act.) Many people operate with a relativistic approach, however, in an effort to avoid