SLIDE 3
Marvin Harris was influenced by many classical theorists, but he was especially by T. Robert Malthus
and Karl Marx. Malthus for his work on the relationships between population and food- production, as
well as the effects of population growth on both the environment and the rest of the social system. Karl
Marx for placing the forces of production at the foundation of the social system
SLIDE 5
The foundation of Harris' theory of Cultural Materialism is that a society's mode of production
(technology and work patterns, especially in regard to food) and mode of reproduction (population level
and growth) in interaction with the natural environment has profound effects on sociocultural stability and
change. Societies are systems, Harris asserts, and widespread social practices and beliefs must be
compatible with the infrastructures of society (the modes of production and reproduction and their
interaction with the environment). The infrastructure represents the ways in which a society regulates
both the type and amount of resources needed to sustain the society.
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- Fall '09
- Alley
- Anthropology, Sociology, Karl Marx, Marvin Harris, Dr. Harris, T. Robert Malthus
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