Term
|
Definition
| theories or models in the social sciences which explain and interpret social and cultural institutions, relations and behavior in terms of the functions which they perform in sociocultural systems, rather than looking for causal explanations. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the position, argued most forcefully by Marvin Harris, that cultures represent primarily adaptive solutions to the material circumstances of life, and hence that peoples with similar technologies in similar environments will tend to evolve broadly similar modes of social grouping, similar belief systems, etc. Material constraints are viewed as directing human activity and life. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| “despotic state systems arise as a necessity of large scale irrigation under certain social and ecological conditions.” (177) [Note with Aristotle, referred to Persia in the middle east. With Wittfogel, it refers to the China and the far east. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| [sometimes referred to as “Means of Production.”] “the resources used in the process of production (tools, land, technological knowledge, raw materials, etc.). |
|
|
Term
| Social Relations of Production |
|
Definition
| are derived from Marxist theory, the social relationships through which production (and distribution and consumption) are organized n a society. Relations of production and of production, in various combinations define a mode of production. (424) [often referred to as Modes of Production. For example, in capitalism, it is the relationship between the employers and laborers. ( |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a form of highly personalized and centralized political rule in which nepotism is normal. |
|
|
