Marvin Harris: Biography Of The Creator Of Cultural Materialism
Marvin Harris is one of the most innovative figures in contemporary anthropology. This North American researcher and academician is the main representative of the current of “cultural materialism”. This is a category of neo-Marxism in which material conditions are approached as a determining factor in the way of being and the future of peoples.
For Marvin Harris, it is the material conditions of societies that determine the thinking and socio-cultural habits of different human groups. These material conditions include the modes and means of production, forms of distribution, exchanges, etc.
The approach and the theses of Marvin Harris were very controversial but also extremely solid. His approach to anthropology has political consequences and a lot of discussion ensues. Be that as it may, no one questions his undeniable contributions in the anthropological field.
Marvin harris
Marvin Harris was born August 18, 1927 in New York (United States) and died October 25, 2001 in Gainesville (Florida) at the age of 74. In 1948, he obtained the title of Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College. He then studied anthropology at Columbia University, where he ended up working as a professor for 27 years.
During his first stage of training, he was a pupil of great intellectuals of the time such as Julian Steward and Alfred Kroeber. He also received lessons from Skinner’s students, an aspect that was instrumental in his conception of experimental work in anthropology. In 1953 he received his doctorate from Columbia University. His final thesis concerned several communities in Brazil.
Marvin Harris conducted several studies in Brazil between 1950 and 1951. In 1953-54 he was a consultant for the National Institute of Pedagogical Studies in Rio de Janeiro. A little later, he moved to Mozambique where he conducted several research with the Thonga community . This period dramatically changed his view of anthropology and prompted him to opt for cultural materialism.
In 1960 he carried out further field studies in the Chimborazo region of Ecuador. He then carried out research in Bahía (Brazil) between 1962 and 1965. His last great adventure as a field anthropologist was in India, in 1976, when he carried out studies on the use of protein resources. with the support of the National Safety Foundation.
The contributions of Marvin Harris
As we have noted, Harris was the founder and main representative of the cultural materialism stream in anthropology. Some of Marvin Harris’ contributions are Cannibals and Kings, Bon à manger, and Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches. He was a very good disseminator of anthropological theories and that is why he achieved great popularity all over the world.
His approach is based on the idea that anthropological research should fundamentally focus on the study of the material conditions of life in different societies. Thanks to this point of view and his extensive work, he eventually came to some interesting conclusions, especially with regard to war and food taboos.
According to Harris, cows have become sacred in India for reasons associated with production. In the past, society depended on it to pull the plows because the basis of the economy was agriculture. It is for this reason that the consumption of their meat was banned and they became sacred animals. So beliefs and religion derive from these material facts. But this is just one example of some aspects of his studies.
Marvin Harris defended the idea that material costs and benefits are what gives rise to different beliefs. Therefore, any cultural reality can be explained by examining the material conditions of a society. His ideas are still debated, but his books nevertheless constitute a compulsory point of reference in the field of anthropology.
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