This paper examines two major anthropological paradigms — Marxist anthropology and American materialism — and their respective approaches to explaining culture in modern society. Beginning with a foundational overview of culture and its defining characteristics, the paper traces Marxist anthropology's roots in Karl Marx's theory of class conflict and economic determinism before turning to American materialism's focus on cultural evolution, cultural ecology, and the use of material artifacts. The paper argues that while American materialism is more deterministic in its cultural analysis, both paradigms share a common lineage and offer complementary perspectives on the forces shaping contemporary capitalist societies.
Centering on the study of culture and human life, anthropology as a field of study in the social sciences examines how people, as social actors, make use of artifacts and practice traditions and values that reflect the distinctive features characterizing a culture. With its inception in the 19th century through Sir Edward Tylor — widely considered the father of anthropology — the science of studying cultures in various countries and societies has developed to include numerous theories that offer different perspectives and paradigms to explain particular cultural phenomena and features.
Culture is reflected in all aspects of human life, be it through the study of religion, art, literature, or even mundane activities such as the use of language, the conduct of traditions and rituals, and the lifestyle of people. Because of the dynamic nature of culture, anthropological theories and paradigms were formulated by social scientists to further explain the perpetuation or disintegration of culture within society. Two of the theories discussed in this paper are Marxist anthropology and American materialism — paradigms that best describe the nature of modernism in today's contemporary society.
Cultures of the world share a set of fundamental characteristics that commonly occur across various nations and societies. The first characteristic of culture is that it is made up of "learned behavior," wherein values are passed from generation to generation in the form of traditions and rituals. Inherent in this characteristic is the utilization of human-made symbols, such as language, which people use to represent and interpret commonly held meanings of their experiences.
Apart from these characteristics, culture is also relatively "patterned," yet dynamic, as a result of the changing values and behaviors adopted by the members of a given culture. More importantly, culture is shared and adaptable to all individuals, whether or not they have grown accustomed to the culture of a particular society (Chapter 4, 72).
Marxist anthropology was derived from Karl Marx's theory of class conflict within a capitalist, or modern, society. This paradigm centers its focus on explaining cultures of the world through an "economic interpretation of history." The relationship between economy and history ultimately determines Marx's concept of class conflict, wherein the control and ownership of the means of production in a society leads to the dominance of the controlling, or elite, class, to the detriment of the proletariat, or oppressed, class. Marx posits that social revolution shall become the people's response to this class conflict, wherein a new system of society — dominated by the proletariat — will emerge (Lusteck, 2001).
In the context of anthropology, Marxist theory is best applied in studying the culture of the modern capitalist society. Anthropology seeks to identify the social classes that emerge within the capitalist system and determine how these classes interact with each other. Furthermore, identifying and understanding the culture of each class is essential for social scientists to learn how conflict emerges and what characteristics of each class's culture ultimately determine who will be the oppressor and who will be the oppressed. The dialectical relationship between these two general classes, as identified in Marx's theory, is the most distinct feature studied in Marxist anthropology.
"Cultural evolution, ecology, and material artifacts"
"Similarities and differences between both theories"
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