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Evolution and Culture
A unified interpretation of the evolution of species, humanity, and society
131 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
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About the author
Marshall Sahlins
45Ìýbooks135ÌýfollowersMarshall David Sahlins was an American cultural anthropologist best known for his ethnographic work in the Pacific and for his contributions to anthropological theory. He was the Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and of Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 18, 2025
This short little treatise on cultural evolution is an important picture of the dialectic opposition to Franz Boas' theories of cultural change that were developed in the 1960s. Boas held that cultural evolution couldn't be neatly categorized into stages, and that understanding cultural difference is more complex than a simple linear path to industrialized capitalism. This leads to the Boasian cultural particularism, which regarded each culture as rationally organized based on a set of internal conditions and history.
This treatise disjointedly presents a case for technological progress and energy manipulation over space as a heuristic for cultural evolution. They argue for specific versus general cultural evolution, and a number of other things that should have been expanded upon through autoethnography and other forms of fieldwork. In doing so, they narrow the definition of culture to technology. This would be alright if they had a properly broad definition of technology, but they never define it and ultimately fall into the assumption of industrial capitalist empire as the default mode of higher civilization.
This tracks from their inspiration of Edward B. Tylor, Herbert Spencer, and so on. These people and the propagation of their ideas led to a lot of racist science that persists today, and argue from a social Darwinist perspective. The authors never really address this criticism. They even lay out a "Law of Cultural Dominance" in which they define dominance and competition through one mode of being- that of military technology.
Overall, they never really address the Boasian critique, they never build on how to measure cultural evolution. Manipulation of energy over space is a fine heuristic, but it is a shallow definition of culture, and they fall into a narrow concept of energy and space. I would say they try to link culture and biological evolution, but kind of abandon it, like a lot of Social Darwinists. They extrapolate one aspect of evolution, make an impossibly broad assumption, and run with it.
They do have some interesting theoretical flourishes, and they are decidedly utopian about things, picturing a day where we have One World. Their belief in world peace, their discussions about progress, and their rootedness in history and ethnography makes this an interesting read. However, written by four authors, there isn't really an overall takeaway and the things we can takeaway are poorly developed and not very useful. Focus would've helped, a more materialist approach would've helped (although they briefly touch on things), and a direct refutation or understanding of cultural particularism would've been useful.
This treatise disjointedly presents a case for technological progress and energy manipulation over space as a heuristic for cultural evolution. They argue for specific versus general cultural evolution, and a number of other things that should have been expanded upon through autoethnography and other forms of fieldwork. In doing so, they narrow the definition of culture to technology. This would be alright if they had a properly broad definition of technology, but they never define it and ultimately fall into the assumption of industrial capitalist empire as the default mode of higher civilization.
This tracks from their inspiration of Edward B. Tylor, Herbert Spencer, and so on. These people and the propagation of their ideas led to a lot of racist science that persists today, and argue from a social Darwinist perspective. The authors never really address this criticism. They even lay out a "Law of Cultural Dominance" in which they define dominance and competition through one mode of being- that of military technology.
Overall, they never really address the Boasian critique, they never build on how to measure cultural evolution. Manipulation of energy over space is a fine heuristic, but it is a shallow definition of culture, and they fall into a narrow concept of energy and space. I would say they try to link culture and biological evolution, but kind of abandon it, like a lot of Social Darwinists. They extrapolate one aspect of evolution, make an impossibly broad assumption, and run with it.
They do have some interesting theoretical flourishes, and they are decidedly utopian about things, picturing a day where we have One World. Their belief in world peace, their discussions about progress, and their rootedness in history and ethnography makes this an interesting read. However, written by four authors, there isn't really an overall takeaway and the things we can takeaway are poorly developed and not very useful. Focus would've helped, a more materialist approach would've helped (although they briefly touch on things), and a direct refutation or understanding of cultural particularism would've been useful.
March 8, 2024
Argues that culture evolves, and discusses the motives and methods.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
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