Marvin Harris

Marvin Harris (1927–2001) was an American anthropologist who developed cultural materialism, explaining cultural practices through material conditions such as production, ecology, and population.

Cultural materialism: An anthropological theory that explains cultural patterns through infrastructure, structure, and superstructure. Harris formulated this framework to explain cultural practices through material conditions.
Sacred cow: A cow protected from slaughter in Hindu religious and social practice. Harris argued that cattle protection could make practical economic sense in Indian agriculture.
Leslie White: An American anthropologist who explained cultural evolution through energy capture and technological efficiency. White’s materialist evolutionism helped shape the intellectual setting for Harris’s approach.
Interpretive anthropology: An approach that studies culture by interpreting symbols, meanings, and social action. It treats meanings as central objects of explanation where Harris often sought material causes.
Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: A 1974 book by Marvin Harris explaining customs and beliefs through material conditions. This popular work presented Harris’s method through cases such as sacred cows and warfare.
Infrastructure (cultural materialism): The material conditions of production, reproduction, and ecological relations in cultural materialism. Harris treated infrastructure as the primary constraint on other cultural systems.
Potlatch: A ceremonial feast among Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest involving public giving and status competition. Harris interpreted potlatch as a material strategy shaped by resource distribution and political rivalry.
Julian Steward: An American anthropologist who developed cultural ecology and the idea of multilinear evolution. Steward’s ecological analysis influenced Harris’s focus on adaptation and material constraints.
Structuralism: An approach that explains cultural forms through underlying systems of relations and oppositions. Structuralism locates explanation in symbolic structures rather than primarily in material conditions.
Cannibals and Kings: A 1977 book by Marvin Harris tracing human societies through material conditions and social change. It extended his materialist account from unusual customs to broad patterns of history.

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