Evolutionary Theories in Anthropology

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• Evolutionary Theories in Anthropology
• Anthropology as a Child of Evolution
• When is history evolution?
• Social Darwinism and Evolutionary History
• Contemporary Evolutionary Theories

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• Anthropology as the Child of Evolution
• The technological revolution in Europe
• The Enlightenment and the scientific revolution
• The idea of progress based on a developmental
  sequence

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Discussion Question When does history or change
evolution?
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Some Early Typologies of Evolutionary Stages

• Edward Tylor and Lewis Henry Morgan from
  savagery to civilization
• Marx and Engels a sequence of modes of
  production tribal-slave-feudal-capitalist-sociali
  st
• Ferdinand Tönnies from gemeinschaft to
  gesellschaft
• Durkheim from mechanical to organic solidarity

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Social Darwinism and Its Legacy
What was Social Darwinisms long-term impact on
evolutionary theorizing in anthropology and
sociology?
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Contemporary Evolutionary Theory In
twentieth-century anthropology, the focus of
evolutionary theorists has been less the
evaluative question of evolutionary progress than
the understanding of evolution as cumulative
social and cultural transformation over time.

• change tends to be cumulative
• but no predetermined destination
• and evaluation left to others

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• Three Contemporary Examples of Evolutionary
  Theories
• Leslie White amount of energy
• Ernest Gellner stages of cognitionthe nature
  of culturally-institutionalized knowledge
• Sociobiology/evolutionary ecologynatural
  selectionvariation in successful reproduction

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Contra Evolutionism What arguments have been made
against evolutionary theories?

• Ignored role of cultural diffusion
• Insufficiently holistic
• too much emphasis on origins, not enough on
  functions
• Weak evidencemainly speculation
• Unacceptable implied value judgmentsethnocentric
  
• Shades of Social Darwinism