IV. Theories of Cultural Adoption

As discussed in the previous blog posts, the concepts relating to evolutionism dealt with how societies evolved. But how did societies gain their characteristic features such as language, religion, dietary practices, etc.? To answer this major question in anthropology, new theories started to develop starting in the late 19th century.

When evolutionary theory emerged in Anthropology, the severe criticism was made by the School of Diffusionism. This consisted of British, American, and German schools. They were not convinced by the concept of progress, psychic unity and parallel development by the evolutionists. They were of view that culture not only developed but it also degenerated. They were of view that man was basically uninventive in nature and the important inventions were made only once at a particular place from where it was diffused, borrowed, migrated and imitated to the other parts of the world. The School of Diffusionism thus believed that cultural development and growth were historically related.

Environmental Determinism is the belief that the environment's physical factors, such as landforms and climate, determine the patterns of human culture and societal development. Environmental Determinists believe that ecological, climatic, and geographical factors alone are responsible for human cultures and individual decisions. In addition to this, according to this theory, social conditions have virtually no impact on cultural development. Environmental Determinists drew upon theories of biological evolution and stated that the environment had a great impact on the person's cultural evolution. But this theory was heavily criticized to be racist and was thus rejected by the first two decades of the twentieth century.

Historical Particularism is an approach that was developed by Franz Boas as an alternative to the worldwide theories of socio-cultural development. This is also alternately known as the American School of Diffusionism which was therefore heavily influenced by the German School. Historical Particularism claims that each society has its own unique historical development and must be understood based on its own specific cultural context, especially its historical process. Historical Particularists criticized the theory of the nineteenth-century Evolutionism as non-scientific and claimed themselves to be free from preconceived ideas. This theory was very popular in the early twentieth century and it also helped eradicate eurocentrism and racism from anthropological theory.