Marvin Harris
(August 18, 1927 - October 25, 2001)
Life
Early Life
Marvin Harris was born on August 18, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York and grew up poor during the Great Depression. Harris entered the Army at the end of the second World War and then used funding from the G.I. Bill to enroll in college and eventually graduate school at Columbia University, where he earned his doctorate in 1953. He worked as Head of the department of Anthropology until 1981, when he left for the University of Florida to become a research professor. Later in life, he served in the Division of General anthropology of the American Anthropological Association until his death on October 25, 2001. (Biography.com)
Teaching / Research
After graduating, Harris immediately started teaching Anthropology at Columbia and remained there for almost 3 decades, eventually moving on to teach for 20 years at the University of Florida. Harris conducted research throughout his teaching years, but his most prominent works came during his time at Columbia. His first notable piece of writing was made in 1968 with The Rise of Anthropological Theory , and consistently put out work until 1989.
Anthropological Ideas and Criticisms
Cultural Materialism
Harris was one of the pioneers of using a particular approach to anthropology called cultural materialism. This approach generally combined ideals from various schools of thought including those of Thomas Malthus and Karl Marx. This combination lead to the idea that the cultural behaviors, including resource production and social systems, developed based on the essential needs on a culture. In Rise of Anthropological Theory, Harris argued "cultures, with their diverse cultural patterns, developed according to necessity for survival"(New World Encyclopedia: Marvin Harris,https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Marvin_Harris).
Cultural materialism is based in the division of cultures into 3 levels: Infrastructure, structure, and superstructure. Harris defined infrastructure as the following in his 1979 book Cultural Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture:
Infrastructure, in other words, is the principal interface between culture and nature, the boundary across which the ecological, chemical, and physical restraints to which human action is subject interact with the principal sociocultural practices aimed at overcoming or modifying those restraints.
More simply, infrastructure is the means of production and reproduction essential for the survival of a culture, including food and other necessities.
Structure is the component of society that deals with the patterns and policies of everyday life. This includes politics, gender roles, education, family systems, and domestic economy. Lastly, as said by New World Encyclopedia, "superstructure incorporates the aesthetic component of society, including art, rituals, science, ideologies, religion, etc."(New World Encyclopedia: Marvin Harris,https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Marvin_Harris). The main ideal of Harris' cultural materialism is that infrastructure influences the rest of a society, and that the structure and superstructure were adapted to suit the capabilities of the infrastructure.
Criticisms
Most criticisms of Harris' work throughout the years is a direct complaint toward cultural materialism. Many critics thought that Harris was foolish to try to explain complex social structures with a very mechanical and simple theory. Others claimed that cultural materialism couldn't be applied to every society, as they had to be studied independently, while Harris tried to pursue anthropology like the other natural sciences, with universal laws and ideas.
Popular Works
The Rise of Anthropological Theory (1968)
This was Harris' first publication, and it is less about research than it is about history. The main purpose of the book is to give readers "an overview of anthropological theory from the perspective of cultural materialism"(Anthropology: Marvin Harris) and to introduce the idea of cultural materialism to the world stage. The most notable volume from this novel is The Rat, which analyzes individual theories and schools of thought from the 18th century through the 1960s. Beginning with the Enlightenment, the first era, in Harris' mind, in which naturalistic causal explanations of cultural phenomena were first established, the modern idea of culture began to appear in this era to evolve, and materialist explanations of cultural similarities and differences first appeared. Harris explores the subsequent reaction against naturalism and materialism in the early 19th century and their eventual replacement by hardcore biological determinism that, with the notable exception of Marxist materialism, held sway over anthropological theory into the early 20th century.
Cultural Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture (1979)
In Cultural Materialism, Harris elaborated on the frame he established in Rise of Anthropological Theory, full explaining and justifying the titular method. He states that his method. Harris states that cultural materialism “is based on the simple premise that human social life is a response to the practical problems of earthly existence”(Harris, 1979), pays homage to all the influences that lead him toward cultural materialism, including evolutionary theory, cultural ecology, and Marxist materialism ((Anthropology: Marvin Harris).
Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture (1974)
This was Harris' first book written for the general population, and is usually seen as his most popular. In Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture, Harris applies his own method of anthropology to try to explain strange occurrences throughout human societies, including odd dietary constrictions like cows in India and pigs in the Middle East, and witch hunts.
Cannibals and Kings: The Origins of Cultures (1977)
In Harris' follow up to Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture, Harris looked more to more historical topics to apply cultural materialism. Of the various topics, the most controversial was his explanation of Aztec cannibalism. Harris claimed the practice arose from a protein shortage, as domestic animals were not as common in Mesoamerica. This proposition led to many of his criticisms and other anthropologists denying Harris' work.
Learn More
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marvin-Harris
http://anthropology.iresearchnet.com/marvin-harris/
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Marvin_Harris
https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/cultural-materialism.htm
Works Cited
“Marvin Harris.” Marvin Harris - New World Encyclopedia, 28 Aug. 2018, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Marvin_Harris.
“Marvin Harris” Anthropology, http://anthropology.iresearchnet.com/marvin-harris/.
Harris, Marvin. Cultural Materialism. Random House, 1979.
Biography of Marvin Harris, Biography.com