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Development Team Paper No. : 11 Ecological Anthropology: Cultural and Biological Dimensions Module : 24 Concepts in Ecology : Biological Dimension Development Team Principal Investigator Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Dr. K. R. Rammohan Paper Coordinator Department of Anthropology, Sikkim University, Sikkim Mr. Sagar Chettri Content Writer Department of Anthropology, Sikkim University, Sikkim Prof. A. Paparao Content Reviewer Department of Anthropology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati 1 Concepts in Ecology : Biological Dimension Anthropology Description of Module Subject Name Anthropology Paper Name Ecological Anthropology: Cultural and Biological Dimensions Module Name/Title Concepts in Ecology : Biological Dimension Module Id 24 Contents: Introduction Development of Cultural ecology and related theories Cultural Ecology approach Cultural Evolutionist approach Ecology and Functionalist Approach Cultural Materialistic approach Political Ecologist approach Ethno ecologist approach Summary Learning Outcomes: After studying this module, students would be able to understand: The Role ecological anthropologists in the debate of environmentalism How major ecological theories rose against environmentalism 2 Concepts in Ecology : Biological Dimension Anthropology Introduction In the early twentieth century, ecology was established as a sub-discipline of biology known as “natural ecology”. During the 1930s, “human ecology” was founded, applying the methods of natural ecology to human societies (Hawley, 1950). Human ecology is the study of the relationships and interactions among humans, their biology, their cultures, and their physical environments. The human ecologists study many aspects of culture and environment including how and why cultures do what they do to solve their subsistence problems, how groups of people understand their environment, and how they share their knowledge of the environment. The broad field of human ecology includes two major sub-divisions; these are human biological ecology and cultural ecology. Human biological ecology is the study of the biological aspect of the human/environment relationship, and cultural ecology is the study of the ways in which culture is used by people to adapt to their environment (Sutton & Anderson, 2010). At around the same time, the anthropologist Julian Steward began to analyze the cultural dimensions of the ecological adaptation of indigenous groups (Steward, 1938), and later his research is known as “cultural ecology” (Steward, 1955). By the mid 1930s, American school of thought emerged as a reaction against the ninetieth century unilinear evolutionism and as a scientific study of the environment and culture. The Cultural Ecology theory considers how environmental forces influence humans and how human activities affect the biosphere and the Earth itself (Kottak, 1999). Julian Steward coined the term ‘cultural ecology’ and defined it in his book, The Theory of Cultural Change (1955), as "a heuristic device for understanding the effect of environment upon culture" (Steward, 1955). Cultural ecology then branched out within anthropology, engendering such sub-fields as ethnoecology (Conklin, 1954), neo-functionalist ecology (Rappaport, 1968), human ecology (Moran, 1990), processual ecology (Bennett, 1993), spiritual ecology (Kinsley, 1995) and political ecology (Schmink & Wood, 1987). These multiple sub-fields of the ecological paradigm reveal a constant increase in the scope of its application, and represents ecological science’s response to the new political and environmental realities faced by contemporary societies. Cultural Ecology focuses on how cultural beliefs and practices help human populations adapt to their environments and live within the means of their ecosystem. It contributes to social organization 3 Concepts in Ecology : Biological Dimension Anthropology and other human institutions. Cultural Ecology also interprets cultural practices in terms of their long- term role in helping humans adapt to their environment (Kottak, 1999). To understand the relationship between culture and environment, several different theories or methodologies emerged during the course of its development. Besides the work of Steward, Harris’s work led to the development of new methodologies in the 1960s. For Harris, cultural change begins at the infrastructural level. Harris’s cultural materialism incorporates the ecological explanation and advances of a more explicit and systematic scientific research strategy (Barfield, 1997, p.137). Harris’s main explanatory mechanism was the concept of adaptation (Milton, 1997). Subsequently, Rappaport and Vayda also contributed importantly to the application of new methodologies in the 1960s. They focused upon the ecosystem approach, systems functioning, and the flow of energy. These methods rely on the usage of measurements such as caloric expenditure and protein consumption. This ecosystem approach remained popular among ecological anthropologists during the 1960s and the 1970s (Milton, 1997). Ethno-ecology was a prevalent approach throughout the same decade. The methodology of ethno-ecology falls within cognitive anthropology. The 1970s and 1980s saw the emergence of radical cultural relativism. In the 1990s, ecological anthropologists rejected extreme cultural relativism and attacked modernist dichotomies (body and mind, action and thought, nature and culture) (Milton, 1997). Recent ecological anthropology studies have included political ecology, uniting more traditional concerns for the environment–technology-social-organization nexus with the emphasis of political economy on power and inequality seen historically, the evaluation and critique of the Third World development programs, and the analysis of environmental degradation (Netting, 1996, p. 270). Development of Cultural ecology and related theories In The Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin presented a synthetic theory of evolution based on the idea of descent with modification. In each generation, more individuals are produced than can survive (because of limited resources), and competition between individuals arises. Individuals with favorable characteristics, or variations, survive to reproduce. It is the environmental context that determines whether or not a trait is beneficial. Thomas R. Malthus had an obvious influence on Darwin's 4 Concepts in Ecology : Biological Dimension Anthropology formulations. Malthus pioneered demographic studies, arguing that human populations naturally tend to outstrip their food supply (Seymour-Smith, 1986, p.87). This circumstance leads to disease and hunger which eventually put a limit on the growth of the population (Seymour-Smith, 1986, p.87). As a reaction to Darwin’s theory, some anthropologists eventually turned to environmental determinism as a mechanism for explanation. The earliest attempts at environmental determinism mapped cultural features of human populations according to environmental information (for example, correlations were drawn between natural features and human technologies) (Milton, 1997). The detailed ethnographic accounts of Boas, Malinowski, and others led to the realization that environmental determinism could not sufficiently account for observed realities, and a weaker form of determinism began to emerge (Milton, 1997). At the same time, steward looked for the adaptive responses to similar environments that gave rise to cross-cultural similarities (Netting, 1996, p.267). Steward’s theory cantered around a culture core, which he defined as "the constellation of features which are most closely related to subsistence activities and economic arrangements" (Steward, 1955, p.37). By the 1960s and 1970s, cultural ecology and environmental determinism lost favor within anthropology. Ecological anthropologists formed new schools of thought, including the ecosystem model, ethnoecology, and historical ecology (Barfield, 1997, p. 138). Researchers hoped that ecological anthropology and the study of adaptations would provide explanations of customs and institutions (Salzman & Attwood, 1996, p. 169). Ecological anthropologists believe that populations are not engaged with the total environment around them, but rather with a habitat consisting of certain selected aspects and local ecosystems (Kottak, 1999, p.23-24). Furthermore, each population has its own adaptations institutionalized in the culture of the group, especially in their technologies (Salzman & Attwood, 1996, p.169). A field such as ecological anthropology is particularly relevant to contemporary concerns with the state of the general environment. Anthropological knowledge has the potential to inform and instruct humans about how to construct sustainable ways of life. Anthropology, especially when it has an environmental focus, also demonstrates the importance of preserving cultural diversity. Biological 5 Concepts in Ecology : Biological Dimension Anthropology diversity is necessary for the adaptation and survival of all species; culture diversity may serve a similar role for the human species because it is clearly one of our most important mechanisms of adaptation. Cultural Ecology approach Julian steward (1902-1972) is an American Neo-evolutionist and his concept of cultural ecology was particularly interested in the relationship between culture and environment. He believed that cultures at similar technological levels, in similar environments, would develop broadly similar institutions. His work thus depended on cross-cultural comparisons
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