Theories of Culture in Postmodern Times

by Marvin Harris

Marvin Harris is arguably the most influential, prolific anthropological theorist of our time. This book brings together many of the strands of his work of the past two decades into a unified, contemporary statement on anthropological theory and practice. In this book, he presents his current views on the nature of culture addressing such issues as the mental/behavioral debate, emics and etics, and anthropological holism. He resoundly critiques many current theoretical trends_from sociobiology to postmodernism to Afrocentrism. And he offers a cultural materialist perspective on diverse contemporary issues such as the IQ question and the fall of communism. Harris' thought-provoking and controversial theoretical views will be required reading for all anthropologists, social theorists, and their students.

Genres: Anthropology, Philosophy, Nonfiction

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

American anthropologist Marvin Harris was born in Brooklyn, New York. A prolific writer, he was highly influential in the development of cultural materialism. In his work he combined Karl Marx's emphasis on the forces of production with Malthus's insights on the impact of demographic factors on other parts of the sociocultural system. Labeling demographic and production factors as infrastructure, Harris posited these factors as key in determining a society's social structure and culture.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of comments by Harris on various issues. Compared to his earlier work, it’s rather desultory. Especially weak is his rather dogmatic dismissal of biological factors in explaining social and cultural differences and similarities. He tries to demolish “The Bell Curve” and fails.

Harris also wavers between his scientism and his generally leftish politics. An unresolved contradiction.

Interesting ideas, as he often comes up with, but not his finest hour.

[Roberto Yoed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvin Harris acepta sin miedo que el materialismo cultural, a diferencia del marxismo-leninismo, no tiene una propuesta política: esto lo lleva a aceptar lo que un académico en su posición debe hacer, es decir, criticar las teorías posmodernas que se oponen a la teoría y método científico.

De igual forma, su análisis de la URSS, aunque predecible, logra dar en el clavo al afirmar que su "caída" no fue un suceso aleatorio sino un golpe de Estado.

En sus propias palabras, el marxismo sigue vivo y ni de broma estamos en el fin de la Historia.