VAID'S ICS – Best UPSC Anthropology Coaching in Delhi Since 1985

Comprehensive Classroom Course · Admissions openRegister now
+91 93113 37737
  • +91-93113 37737, +91-99999 46748
  • 73(FF), Old Rajender Nagar Market, Delhi - 110060
  • MON to SUN 9.00 am - 6.00 pm
Facebook Youtube Instagram
Menu
Enquire Now
Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2015/Paper I/Anthropological Theories
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper I 2015 15 Marks Model Answer Available

Diffusionism and Evolutionism as Explanations of Culture Change — 2015 Paper I

Question · 2015 · Paper I · 15 Marks

How do diffusionism and evolutionism differ as explanations of Culture Change ?

Model Answer

VAID ICS

Approach

  • Demand of Question: Compare evolutionism and diffusionism as alternative anthropological explanations of cultural change.
  • Structuring the Response: Explain their assumptions, mechanisms and major scholars, then compare their strengths and limitations systematically.
  • Key Dimensions to Cover: Tylor, Morgan, Frazer, unilinear evolution, diffusion, culture circles, British diffusionism, German-Austrian school, independent invention and historical contact.

Model Answer

Introduction: Evolutionism and diffusionism were two early anthropological explanations of cultural change. Evolutionists explained similarities largely through independent development through common stages, whereas diffusionists emphasized the spread of cultural traits through contact between societies.

Evolutionist explanation

Nineteenth-century evolutionists such as:

  • E.B. Tylor;
  • L.H. Morgan;
  • James Frazer

argued that human societies develop from relatively simple toward increasingly complex forms.

Morgan’s model illustrates this:

Savagery → Barbarism → Civilization

Evolutionists assumed:

  1. broad psychic unity of humankind;
  2. similar problems produce similar inventions;
  3. cultural institutions develop through recognizable stages;
  4. similarities between distant societies may arise through independent invention.

Culture change was therefore largely interpreted as:

Internal development → Increasing complexity

Diffusionist explanation

Diffusionists reacted against the evolutionists’ tendency to assume repeated independent invention.

They argued that cultural traits often spread through:

  • migration;
  • borrowing;
  • trade;
  • conquest;
  • intermarriage;
  • other forms of contact.

Thus:

Culture A → Contact → Trait transmission → Culture B

German-Austrian diffusionism

Scholars such as Fritz Graebner and Wilhelm Schmidt developed the idea of Kulturkreise or culture circles.

Complexes of related traits were believed to originate in particular centres and spread geographically.

British diffusionism

  1. Elliot Smith and W.J. Perry adopted an extreme diffusionist position, arguing that many major cultural inventions originated in Egypt and subsequently spread elsewhere.

This hyper-diffusionism greatly underestimated independent invention.

Major differences

Evolutionism Diffusionism
Emphasizes internal development Emphasizes external transmission
Similarity due to psychic unity/independent invention Similarity due mainly to historical contact
Focus on stages Focus on geographical spread
Primarily developmental Primarily historical
Tylor, Morgan, Frazer Graebner, Schmidt, Elliot Smith
Often unilinear Often culture-area/culture-circle oriented

Different views of cultural similarity

For an evolutionist:

Similar trait in A and B → Similar stage of development

For a diffusionist:

Similar trait in A and B → Possible borrowing/common origin

Contributions

Evolutionism drew attention to:

  • long-term cultural transformation;
  • comparative study;
  • increasing complexity of institutions.

Diffusionism highlighted:

  • migration;
  • historical contact;
  • borrowing;
  • geographical distribution of cultural traits.

Limitations

Evolutionism was criticized for:

  • speculative reconstruction;
  • ethnocentrism;
  • unilinear assumptions.

Diffusionism was criticized because:

  • extreme forms reduced invention to very few centres;
  • borrowing does not explain why societies accept, reject or modify traits;
  • internal innovation and adaptation were underestimated.

Contemporary synthesis

Modern anthropology recognizes that culture changes through several interacting mechanisms:

Invention + Diffusion + Adaptation + Historical circumstances

Borrowed traits are also rarely copied mechanically; receiving societies select and reinterpret them.

Conclusion

Evolutionism explains culture change primarily through internal developmental processes, while diffusionism stresses historical transmission between societies. Both captured real processes but became inadequate when treated exclusively. Contemporary anthropology therefore views cultural change as the result of innovation interacting with diffusion, local adaptation and historical context.

2026 Discuss, with appropriate examples, how basic personality types may lead towards building up of national character. 2026 How is the theory of structuralism helpful in understanding the concepts of caste and gender? 2026 Critically discuss how culture determines human behaviour in the light of Leslie White's theory. 2026 Compare Edmund Leach's structuralism with interpretive anthropology of Clifford Geertz.

Want feedback on your answer?

Join the Anthropology workshop or get structured answer-writing guidance from VAID ICS.

Join Workshop Contact VAID ICS

UPSC Anthropology Optional 2015 — Paper I

28 questions

1(a) Archaeological Anthropology.

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.3 Main branches of Anthropology > Archaeological Anthropology
2015Paper IFoundations of AnthropologyModel answer available

5(e) DNA technology in Medicine.

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > DNA technology in diseases and medicine
2015Paper IApplied & Forensic AnthropologyModel answer available

5(b) Down's Syndrome.

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.4(c) Autosomal aberrations > Down syndrome
2015Paper IHuman Genetics & Human BiologyModel answer available

1(e) Historical Particularism.

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Historical Particularism (Boas)
2015Paper IAnthropological TheoriesModel answer available

1(d) Horticulture.

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 3. Economic Organization > Modes of subsistence > Horticulture
2015Paper IEconomic & Political AnthropologyModel answer available

1(c) Incest Taboos.

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.3 Marriage > Rules of marriage > Incest taboo
2015Paper IMarriage & FamilyModel answer available

5(c) Longitudinal method of studying growth.

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 10. Human growth and development > Methodologies for growth studies > Longitudinal method
2015Paper IHuman Genetics & Human BiologyModel answer available

5(d) Menopause and its impact.

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 11.1 Relevance of menarche, menopause and other bio-events to fertility
2015Paper IHuman Genetics & Human BiologyModel answer available

5(a) Palaeolithic culture.

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution: broad outlines of prehistoric cultures > Palaeolithic
2015Paper IPrehistoric ArchaeologyModel answer available

1(b) Society and Culture.

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.2 The Nature of Society > Society and culture
2015Paper ICulture & SocietyModel answer available