Overview
This lecture covers Lewis Henry Morgan's theory of cultural evolution, emphasizing his classification of social development stages and the importance of kinship and property in shaping societies.
Morgan’s Cultural Evolution Theory
- Lewis Henry Morgan was a classical cultural evolutionist who believed cultures evolved from simple to complex forms.
- Morgan focused on marriage and family systems as key to understanding the development of social and political organizations.
- His work influenced Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in their theories about class-based societies.
Stages of Cultural Evolution
- Morgan identified three main stages: savagery (hunting and gathering), barbarism (domestication of plants/animals), and civilization (complex socio-political organizations and the state).
- Cultures progress through these stages based on technological advancements and organization of family, property, and government.
- Some cultures remained "stuck" in earlier stages due to lack of necessary technologies.
Kinship Systems
- Morgan defined two kinship systems: classificatory (uses the same term for father and father’s brother) and descriptive (distinguishes between all relationships).
- Descriptive systems are characteristic of advanced cultures and are associated with territorial and property-based governments.
- In savage stages, group families existed, with communal relationships and unclear paternal lineage.
Property and Social Organization
- Property became more important in civilization due to clear family lineages from monogamous marriages.
- Early societies used matrilineal descent; later stages emphasized patrilineal kinship for civilization development.
- Distribution of property evolved from burial with owners (savagery) to communal ownership (barbarism) to private ownership and class divisions (civilization).
Criticisms and Legacy
- Morgan's theories, like those of Edward Tyler, lacked nuance and assumed linear progression.
- Later anthropologists criticized equating matrilineal systems with primitive stages and questioned his assumptions based on contemporary kinship terms.
- Morgan conducted direct research (e.g., with the Iroquois), distinguishing him from contemporaries.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Cultural Evolutionism — theory that cultures develop from simple to more complex forms over time.
- Savagery — earliest stage, defined by hunting, gathering, and group families.
- Barbarism — middle stage, marked by domestication of plants and animals.
- Civilization — advanced stage, featuring complex governments and property systems.
- Kinship System — the ways a society classifies and names family relationships.
- Classificatory System — kinship terms group relatives (e.g., "father" and "uncle" are the same).
- Descriptive System — kinship terms distinguish all family roles clearly.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Read Morgan’s "Ancient Society" for further understanding.
- Review examples of classificatory vs. descriptive kinship systems.
- Consider the criticisms of linear cultural evolution in preparation for discussion.