Marvin Harris

Marvin Harris (August 18, 1927 – October 25, 2001) was an American anthropologist. 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. After the publication of "The Rise of Anthropological Theory" in 1968, Harris helped focus anthropologists' interest in cultural-ecological relationships for the rest of his career. Image File history File links http://clasnews. ... Image File history File links http://clasnews. ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... See Anthropology. ... The term Cultural materialism refers to two separate scholarly endeavours: It is an anthropological research paradigm championed most notably by Marvin Harris. ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818, Trier, Germany – March 14, 1883, London) was a German philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Thomas Robert Malthus, FRS (February 13, 1766 – December 23, 1834), usually known as Thomas Malthus, although he preferred to be known as Robert Malthus, was an English demographer and political economist. ...

Over the course of his professional life, Harris drew both a loyal following and a considerable amount of criticism. He became a regular fixture at the annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association where he would subject scholars to intense questioning from the floor, podium or bar. In his final book, Theories of Culture in Postmodern Times, Harris argued that the political consequences of postmodern theory were harmful, a critique similar to those later developed by philosopher Richard Wolin and others. American Anthropological Association (AAA) was founded in 1902 and claims to be, the worlds largest professional organization of individuals interested in anthropology. Although there were several other American anthropological societies in existence at the turn of the 20th century, this new, national organization was formed to promote the science... Richard Wolin is an intellectual historian. ...

Theoretical contributions

Harris' earliest work began in the Boasian tradition of descriptive fieldwork, but his fieldwork experiences in Mozambique in the late 1950s caused him to shift his focus from ideological features of culture towards behavioral aspects. His "Rise of Anthropological Theory" critically examined hundreds of years of social thought with the intent of constructing a viable nomothetic understanding of human culture that he came to call "cultural materialism." Cultural materialism began with Marx's partition of the human world into categories of superstructure and base. Franz Boas Franz Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942[1]) was one of the pioneers of modern anthropology and is often called the Father of American Anthropology. Born in Germany, Boas worked for most of his life in North America. ...

Along with Michael Harner, Harris is one of the scholars most associated with the theory that Aztec cannibalism was the result of protein deficiency in the Aztec diet. While Harner was a sincere advocate of this, Harris presented it in a more hypothetical light: he used it to illustrate the idea of cultural materialism. An explanation appears in his book Cannibals and Kings. Michael Harner synthesized shamanic beliefs and practices from all over the world into a system now known as core shamanism or neoshamanism. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Cannibals and Kings ISBN 0394407652 (1977) is a book written by Marvin Harris. ...

Harris is known for his support of the emic and etic idea. Harris advanced the idea that etic accounts were inherently better, as outsiders observing a culture would not be blinded by the biases that members of that culture carried. This was strongly influenced by Karl Marx's theory of false consciousness. ^{[citation needed]} Emic and etic are terms used by some in the social sciences and the behavioral sciences to refer to two different kinds of data concerning human behavior. ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818, Trier, Germany – March 14, 1883, London) was a German philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... False consciousness is the Engelsist hypothesis that material and institutional processes in capitalist society mislead the proletariat — and perhaps the other classes — over the nature of capitalism. ...

Personal information

Harris received both his M.A. and PhD from Columbia University; the former in 1949 and the latter in 1953. He performed fieldwork in Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa before joining the faculty at Columbia. He eventually became chairman of the anthropology department before going to the University of Florida. During the Columbia student campus occupation of 1968, Harris was among the few faculty leaders who sided with the students as they were threatened and beaten by the police. Harris joined UF's anthropology department in 1981 and retired in 2000. He was the Anthropology Graduate Research Professor Emeritus there. Dr. Harris also served as the Chair of the General Anthropology Division of the American Anthropological Association. Harris was the author of 17 books. His research spanned the topics of race, evolution and culture, and often focused on Latin America and Brazil. [1] Columbia University is a private research university in the United States. ... Portuguese ( , also língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is today Galicia (Spain) and northern Portugal. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa. ... The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university located in Gainesville, Florida. ... American Anthropological Association (AAA) was founded in 1902 and claims to be, the worlds largest professional organization of individuals interested in anthropology. Although there were several other American anthropological societies in existence at the turn of the 20th century, this new, national organization was formed to promote the science... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ...

Works

Harris left a large body of scholarly work. Please see List of Marvin Harris works for a complete list. This is a two-part chronological list of the works of anthropologist Marvin Harris. ...

External links

• Marvin Harris
• [2] Marvin Harris's Cultural Materialism
• Marvin Harris Biographical Essay.
• Cultural MaterialismCultural Materialism