Cultural Anthropology theories questions?

Question

I'll be honest; This is a homework. And I need ideas. Intelligent ones. lol

Here are the theories:

- Cultural Evolutionism

- Cultural Diffusionism

- Cultural Materialism

- Neo-evolutionism

- Post-modernism

QUESTION: How do these theories affect...

a. the differences and similarities of cultures across the globe?

b. the development of human behavior?

Thanks!

Answer 1

they bleed into each other, on leads to the next, ........ wich leads to the next, so on.. just pick 1 main cultral thing and bring it thru history using examples. i find it easier to pick somthing from prehistoric times, its basic and can be easily proved by natural diffussion

Answer 2

Cultural Diffusion is easy for (a).  An idea for what you could focus on is trade between cultures.  Most of the time it's easier to discuss ancient societies.  But the more trade two cultures have, the more contact they have, and you can see evidence of cultures becoming more like each other based on how much contact they have.  

Cultural Evolutionism, you could talk about either the Westernization of societies around the globe in the past ~100 years (the disappearance of indigenous cultures), or Colonialism.

Cultural Materialism, think about how the environment can influence a society.  How would being situated on the Nile make ancient Egyptian society develop differently from being situated in a more natural resource friendly area such as nothern mesopotamia?  differences in water availability/reliability, the lack (or abundance) of metals for tools, etc.  How would a culture be different in a heirarchical society than an egalitarian society in relation to social interaction?

Answer 3

Actually, these theories don't affect anything.  They are descriptive.

Answer 4

do your own homework. See what Ive done? Ive told you that I cannot allocate a time and energy resource to your problem! And that is the essence of cultural similarity: we gotta eat, work and we gotta mate. And we are bound to each other by obligation and energy expenditure. So cultureas have: food, s*x and hierarchical simlarity wirldwide: division of labour: men fight, women fish, etc. Work it out. Hierarchies, gods, death. think abouyt it - on your own.