Neoevolutionism
The theory of Neoevolutionism 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 Neoevolutionism emerged in the 1930s. In other
words, it was the Neoevolutionary thinkers who brought back evolutionary
thought and developed it to be acceptable to contemporary anthropology.
The main difference between Neoevolutionism and Nineteenth-century 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 Neoevolutionary 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.
Source:
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McGee, R. Jon and Richard L. Warms. 2004 Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. New York: McGraw Hill.
Julian Steward
(1902-1972, The United States)Leslie White
(1900-1975, The United States)This page was created by Minnesota State University, Mankato student. Last updated 12/15/03