Marvin Harris was born in Brooklyn, New York at August 18, 1927. He was an American anthropologist.
He entered the U.S. Army toward the end of the Second World War and when came back entered to the Columbia University. There he studied anthropology. During his career, he was very influenced for the theories of Karl Marx and he combined the ideas of Thomas Malthus about the impact of demographic factors on other parts of the sociocultural system. With these two theories, Marvin Harris created the study methodology named Cultural Materialism. Basically, the Cultural Materialism says the media and the types of subsistence in a society determine to the social organization and the culture.
The best-known books are:
Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture (1985)
Death, Sex, and Fertility: Population Regulation in Preindustrial and Developing Societies (1987)
Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture (1975)
Cultural Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture (1982)
Harris died in Gainesville (Florida) on October 25, 2001.
I like Marvin Harris because he can explain anything aspect of the culture, like the love of the cow in the India, just through the modes of production of his subsistence.
"Yes and no"
ReplyDeleteWho am I? lol (Sorry, I was teasing you. I won't do it anymore... At least here in your blog.)
And about our little Marvin here, I don't like this guy much. Who did he think he was, questioning the cow lovers?
Take care :)
Oh! Marvin Harris. I remember your fanaticism by Marvin Harris. I like the functionalist theory.
ReplyDeleteHe is one of the anthropologists I most admire. His book "good to eat" is very intersting.
l like cultural materialism...
ReplyDeletebut harris goes too far, I mean, he is an extremist when he comes to analize everything in terms of an energetic problem
Very interesting, Víctor.
ReplyDelete2 points.
Paula