Historical Development Anthropology Blog

 Khadijah Ahmed

9/9/21

IHSS

Mr. Roddy


Topic: Marxism and the Collectors

Alongside the concept of evolutionism, came another developing theory. The Marxist theory of evolutionism became another perspective for anthropologists in the late 19th century. Created by German philosophers Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels, the Marxist theory took greatly into account the causes of human evolution. According to Marx, society went through 4 evolutionary stages throughout its existence: communal living based on hunting and gathering what nature provided, to a society based on slavery, based on land, and then finally becomes a capital (bourgeois) based society. He said that in the societies that have since left communal living, powerful elites begin to take control over the general population. These elites have power usually rooted in the society’s “means of production”, but this power is almost always being challenged, as, within a capitalistic society, most individuals hope to increase their personal wealth and power. Upon new relations between societal groups, power shifts over time, therefore exhibiting one part of evolution. Of course, these changes are not instantaneous and occur over many, many, generations. He predicted the tensions between societal classes, and these tensions may even lead to revolutions that usually help to further the society. Although Marx was not always the most reliable philosopher, these (and many other) theories definitely are interesting takes on evolutionism and the traits of humanity.

https://www.britannica.com/science/cultural-anthropology/Historical-development-of-cultural-anthropology#ref38786

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