Steward's Cultural Ecology: A Critique

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Julian Steward's theory of cultural change, which is also referred to as cultural ecology. This is the theory that environment and culture exist in a dialectical relationship, at least with regard to resource use and production. The paper provides an overview of the theory, examples of the theory at work, and concludes with a critique of the theory's weaknesses.

From the Paper:

"Perhaps it is no more than a biological necessity to find order in the world that drives the human mind to develop all manner of theories by which seemingly unrelated events can be explained. Perhaps the drive is more cultural in nature. However, if that were the case, then proponents of Julian Steward's theory of cultural ecology would no doubt attempt to explain the drive as the result of a complex interaction between cultural and environmental factors. Whatever the case on that score, it is nonetheless apparent that in all academic disciplines there is a push to develop theoretical-methodological approaches to study that can explain the nature of the discipline and also provide avenues for further research. The cultural ecological perspective is one such approach that attempts to explain the origin and development of cultural elements to interactions and adaptations..."

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