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Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2017/Paper I/Culture & Society
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper I 2017 20 Marks Model Answer Available

Development of the Concept of Culture in Anthropology — 2017 Paper I

Question · 2017 · Paper I · 20 Marks

Discuss the development of the concept of culture in Anthropology.

Model Answer

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Approach

  • Demand of Question:Trace how anthropological understandings of culture developed from classical evolutionism to contemporary interpretive and practice-oriented perspectives.
  • Structuring the Response:Begin with Tylor; move through Boasian, functional, configurational, structural, materialist and symbolic formulations; conclude with the contemporary view of culture as learned, contested and dynamic.
  • Key Dimensions to Cover: Tylor; Boas; Kroeber; Malinowski; Benedict; Lévi-Strauss; White; Geertz; critiques of bounded and homogeneous culture.

Model Answer

Introduction Culture is the central, unifying concept of anthropology. Over time, its conceptualization has shifted from being viewed as a static, bounded catalogue of traits (in the 19th century) to a dynamic, contested, and historically situated process of meaning-making (in the 21st century).

Body

  1. Classical Evolutionism (19th Century): Culture as a Universal Scale
  • E.B. Tylor (Primitive Culture, 1871) provided the foundational definition: "Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society."
  • Feature: It established culture as learned (not biological). However, evolutionists viewed culture as unilineal, placing societies on a single scale from 'savagery' to 'civilization'.
  1. Historical Particularism (Early 20th Century): Culture as Unique and Plural
  • Franz Boas rejected unilineal evolution, arguing for Cultural Relativism—that each culture is a unique product of its specific historical trajectory.
  • A.L. Kroeber conceptualized culture as "Superorganic," operating above the individual biological level.
  • Ruth Benedict (Patterns of Culture, 1934) viewed cultures as unique psychological configurations organized around dominant core values (e.g., Apollonian Zuni vs. Dionysian Kwakiutl).
  1. Functionalism and Structuralism (Mid-20th Century): Culture as an Integrated System
  • Bronisław Malinowski (Biopsychological Functionalism): Defined culture as an instrumental apparatus used to satisfy primary (biological) and secondary (derived) human needs.
  • A.R. Radcliffe-Brown (Structural Functionalism): Shifted focus from 'culture' to 'social structure', seeing cultural norms merely as mechanisms to maintain social equilibrium.
  • Claude Lévi-Strauss (Structuralism): Viewed culture as the surface manifestation of universal, underlying cognitive structures of the human mind, operating on binary oppositions.
  1. Neo-Evolutionism and Materialism (1940s-60s): Culture as Adaptation
  • Leslie White: Reintroduced evolution, defining cultural advancement mathematically based on energy capture ($E times T = C$).
  • Julian Steward (Cultural Ecology): Proposed multilinear evolution, focusing on the "Culture Core" (technology/subsistence) and how it adapts to specific environmental constraints.
  1. Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology (1970s): Culture as Meaning
  • Clifford Geertz (The Interpretation of Cultures, 1973) defined culture semiotically as "webs of significance" spun by man. He advocated for "Thick Description," shifting anthropology from seeking scientific laws to interpreting the subjective meaning of actions to the participants.
  1. Contemporary & Postmodern View (1980s-Present): Culture as Contested and Fluid
  • Scholars like Lila Abu-Lughod and James Clifford challenged the idea of homogeneous, bounded cultures.
  • Today, culture is seen as a fluid, contested arena shaped by globalization, migration, gender, power, and class. It is something people actively do and negotiate, rather than statically possess.

Conclusion The trajectory of the culture concept mirrors the maturation of anthropology itself: moving from an ethnocentric, unilineal hierarchy of traits to a relativistic, symbolic, and deeply contextual understanding of human diversity and meaning-making.

2025 Culture and embodiment. 2025 Critically examine the drawbacks in assuming culture as an 'integrated-closed' system in understanding of contemporary society. 2025 Describe briefly the theoretical perspectives in linguistic anthropology to explain the relationship of culture, language and thought. 2024 Attributes of culture

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