Marxism and Anthropology
A brief explanation of how the humanities engage with Marxism.
Marxism within anthropology first emerged as part of anthropology’s critique of colonialism in the 1960’s and 1970’s (Wallerstein 2004; Roseberry 1998). Marx and Engels rejected the ethnocentric idea that Western cultural forms were superior to all other cultures which is compatible with the central anthropological idea of cultural relativism. Instead, Marx and Engels argued, the Western cultural form was a product of specific historical events and ideas that could be critiqued and re-examined.
If you engage with anthropological research, you can apply these arguments to any element of human society. Anthropologist Maurice Bloch is, arguably, the authority on anthropology and Marxism and reflects extensively on the two in his book title, “Marxism and Anthropology.” Some of his major points include:
- Marx argued against the idea that capitalism was inevitable and eternal, so he studied the work of anthropologists to better understand pre-literate societies in order to better understand different forms of economic structures (2).
- Marxist anthropology examines the historical events and ideas that produce the institutions of any given society (2)
- Anthropology influenced Marx and helped develop his ideas (3)
