05 Neo-Evolutionism

Paper No. : 10 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Module : 05 Neo-Evolutionism Development Team Principal Investigator Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Paper Coordinator Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Vineet Kumar Verma Content Writer Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Prof. Subir Biswas, Department of Anthropology, West Content Reviewer Bengal State University, Barasat, West Bengal 1 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Neo-Evolutionism Description of Module Subject Name Anthropology Paper Name 10 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Module Name/Title Neo-Evolutionism Module Id 05 2 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Neo-Evolutionism Table of Contents Introduction 1. Early anthropological theory 2. History of nineteenth-century classical evolutionists 3. Neo-evolutionist 4. Neo-evolutionists Scholars V. Gordon Childe (England) Julian Steward (U.S.A) Leslie White (U.S.A) Summary Learning Objective To introduce history of anthropological thought by tracing its historical development To classify the course of historical development, academic, and Anthropological importance in terms of its development An attempt to look Methodological approaches to the origin of culture 3 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Neo-Evolutionism Introduction A theoretical orientation is usually a general attitude about how cultural phenomena are to be explained. A number of thinkers during this period began to discuss evolution and how it might occur. The prevailing theoretical orientation in anthropology during the 19th century was based on a belief that culture generally evolves in a uniform and progressive manner; that is, most societies were believed to pass through the same series of stages, to arrive ultimately at a common end. Neo- evolutionism, school of anthropology concerned with long-term culture change and with the similar patterns of development that may be seen in unrelated, widely separated cultures. It arose in the mid- 20th century, and it addresses the relation between the long-term changes that are characteristic of human culture in general and the short-term, localized social and ecological adjustments that cause specific cultures to differ from one another as they adapt to their own unique environments. 1. Early anthropological theory In anthropology, as in any discipline, there is a continual ebb and flow of ideas. One theoretical orientation will arise and may grow in popularity until another is proposed in opposition to it. Often, one orientation will capitalize on those aspects of a problem that a previous orientation ignored or played down. Evolutionism was a common 19th century belief that organisms inherently improve themselves through progressive inherited change over time, and increase in complexity through evolution. The belief went on to include cultural evolution and social evolution. In the 1970s the term Neo-Evolutionism was used to describe the idea "that human beings sought to preserve a familiar style of life unless change was forced on them by factors that were beyond their control". It refers to theories of change in which development is seen to go through stages of increasing complexity and diversification. It is closely related to the idea of progress and technology, which is most prevalent in capitalist society. In the 1940s, Leslie A. White revived the evolutionary approach to cultural development. White believed that technological development, or the amount of energy harnessed per capita, was the main driving force creating cultural evolution; Anthropologists such as Julian H. Steward, Marshall Sahlins, and Elman Service have also presented evolutionary viewpoints. 2. History of Nineteenth-Century Classical Evolutionists Neo-evolutionism is a social theory that tries to explain the evolution of societies by drawing on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and discarding some dogmas of the previous social evolutionism. Neo-evolutionism is concerned with long-term, directional, evolutionary social 4 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Neo-Evolutionism change and with the regular patterns of development that may be seen in unrelated, widely separated cultures. Neo-evolutionism emerged in the 1930s. It developed extensively in the period after the Second World War and was incorporated into anthropology as well as sociology in the 1960s. Its theories are based on empirical evidence from fields such as archaeology, palaeontology, and historiography. Proponents say neo-evolutionism is objective and simply descriptive, eliminating any references to a moral or cultural system of values. While the 19th century evolutionism explained how culture develops by giving general principles of its evolutionary process, it was dismissed by Historical Particularism as unscientific in the early 20th century. It was the neo-evolutionary thinkers who brought back evolutionary thought and developed it to be acceptable to contemporary anthropology. The neo-evolutionism discards many ideas of classical social evolutionism, namely that of social progress, so dominant in previous sociology evolution-related theories. The neo-evolutionism stresses the importance of empirical evidence. While 19th century evolutionism used value judgment and assumptions for interpreting data, the neo-evolutionism relied on measurable information for analyzing the process of cultural evolution 3. Neo-evolutionist Neo-evolutionary anthropological thought emerged in the 1940s, in the work of the American anthropologists Leslie A. White and Julian H. Steward and others. White hypothesized that cultures became more advanced as they became more efficient at harnessing energy and that technology and social organization were both influential in instigating such efficiencies. Steward, inspired by classifying the native cultures of North and South America, focused on the parallel developments of unrelated groups in similar environments; he discussed evolutionary change in terms of what he called ―levels of sociocultural integration‖ and ―Multilinear evolution,‖ terms he used to distinguish neo- evolution from earlier, Unilinear theories of cultural evolution; In the years since White’s and Steward’s seminal work, neo-evolutionary approaches have been variously accepted, challenged, rejected, and revised, and they continue to generate a lively controversy among those interested in long-term cultural and social change. The theory of Neo-evolutionism explained how culture develops by giving general principles of its evolutionary process. The theory of cultural evolution was originally established in the 19th century. However, this Nineteenth-century Evolutionism was dismissed by the Historical Particularists as unscientific in the early 20th century. Therefore, the topic of cultural evolution had been avoided by many anthropologists until Neo-evolutionism emerged in the 1930s. In other words, it was the Neo- evolutionary thinkers who brought back evolutionary thought and developed it to be acceptable to contemporary anthropology. The main difference between Neo-evolutionism and Nineteenth-century 5 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Neo-Evolutionism Evolutionism is whether they are empirical or not. While Nineteenth-century evolutionism used value judgment and assumptions for interpreting data, the new one relied on measurable information for analyzing the process of cultural evolution. The Neo-evolutionary thoughts also gave some kind of common ground for cross-cultural analysis. Largely through their efforts, evolutionary theory was again generally accepted among anthropologists by the late 1960s. 4. Neo-evolutionists Scholars The nineteenth-century classical evolutionists mainly talked about the cultural evolution with a view to find out cultural regularities or laws, but their findings and approaches were modified by the evolutionists of the twentieth-century in the light of their new researches and methodological approaches to the origin of culture and, hence they are known as neo-evolutionists. V. Gordon Childe (England) V. Gorden Childe described evolution in terms of three major events viz. the invention of food production, urbanisation and industrialisation. Thus, analysing the transitions that took place under the impact of these ―revolution‖, Childe presented an overall view of the evolutionary process of delineated its common factors. V. Gorden Childe classified the stages of cultural developments in terms of, thus, archaeological findings, which are as follows: Sr. Archaeological Cultural Development No. Period 1 Palaeolithic Savagery 2 Neolithic Barbarism 3 Copper Age Higher Barbarism 4 Early Bronze Age Civilization Thus, on the basis of the excavation of tools, pottery, invention of agriculture etc., Childe established his theory of neo-evolution. He was of opinion that even during the pre-historic period, migration took place and cultural traits diffused from one place to another. Thus, to some extent Childe also believed in the principle of diffusion. Culture was of opinion that human societies have passed through different stages and therefore, he argued that the nineteenth-century unilinear evolutionists were very much dogmatic in their approach. 6 Theories and methods in social and cultural Anthropology Anthropology Neo-Evolutionism

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