From Unilineal Cultural Evolution to Functionalism Essay examples -- e

From Unilineal Cultural Evolution to FunctionalismSeveral anthropological theories emerged during the early twentieth century. Arguably, the most important of these was Functionalism. Bronislaw Malinowski was a prominent anthropologist in Britain during that time and had smashing influence on the development of this theory. Malinowski suggested that individuals have certain physiological inevitably and that subtletys develop to toy those needs. Malinowski saw those needs as being nutrition, reproduction, shelter, and breastplate from enemies. He also proposed that there were early(a) basic, culturally derived needs and he saw these as being economics, social control, education, and political organization Malinowski proposed that the stopping point of whatsoever people could be explained by the functions it performed. The functions of a culture were performed to meet the basic physiological and culturally derived needs of its individual constituents. A. R. Radcliff-Brown was a coetaneous of Malinowskis in Britain who also belonged to the Functionalist school of purview. Radcliff-Brown differed from Malinowski quite markedly though, in his approach to Functionalism. Malinowskis emphasis was on the individuals inside a culture and how their needs shaped that culture. Radcliff-Brown eyeshot individuals unimportant, in anthropological training. He thought that the various aspects of a culture existed to keep that culture in a stable and constant state. Radcliff-Brown focused attention on social structure. He suggested that a society is a system of relationships maintaining itself through cybernetic feedback, turn institutions are orderly sets of relationships whose function is to maintain the society as a system. Goldschmidt (1996) 510 At the same time as the theory of Functionalism was developing in Britain the theory of culture and Personality was being developed in America. The study of culture and personality seeks to understand the gr owth and development of personal or social identity as it relates to the surrounding social environment. Barnouw (1963) 5. In other words, the personality or psychology of individuals arse be studied and conclusions can be drawn about the Culture of those individuals. This school of thought owes oftentimes to Freud for its emphasis on psychology (personality) and to an aversion to the racist theories that were popular within A... ...ture, and as he reveals elsewhere, his conception of a social structure concentrates on the political institutions, the economic institutions, the kinship organization, and the ritual life. Carrithers (1992) 12-33. However, Carrithers thought that Radcliff-Brown displayed an orientation to miscellanea which in important respects is fundamentally similar to Benedicts. Carrithers (1992) 12-33. They both took the natural sciences as a model of knowledge and thought that such knowledge could be applied to a culture occurring any place or any time i n history. Carrithers goes on to situation that Benedict, representing the school of Culture and Personality and Radcliff-Brown representing the Functionalists had their work criticized, and built upon by ulterior generations of anthropologists. Eric Wolfs criticisms of the functionalist approach can be seen as create upon the body of knowledge accumulated up to that time. ReferencesAnthropology 103 Text. 2000. Unpublished University of Otago, Dunedin.Abbink, Jan & Hans Vermeulen eds. 1982 History and Culture Essays on the Work of Eric R. Wolf. Amsterdam Het Spinhuis.Barnouw, Victor (1963) Culture and Personality.