485:. Steward's interest in the evolution of society also caused him to examine processes of modernization. He was one of the first anthropologists to examine the way in which national and local levels of society were related to one another. He questioned the possibility of creating a social theory which encompassed the entire evolution of humanity; yet, he also argued that anthropologists are not limited to description of specific, existing cultures. Steward believed it is possible to create theories analyzing typical, common culture, representative of specific eras or regions. As the decisive factors determining the development of a given culture, he indicated technology and economics, while noting that there are secondary factors, such as political systems, ideologies, and religions. These factors cause a given society to evolve in several ways at the same time.
489:
contributions: "Cultural
Causality and Law: A Trial Formulation of the Development of Early Civilizations (1949b), "Area Research: Theory and Practice" (1950), "Levels of Sociocultural Integration" (1951), "Evolution and Process (1953a), and "The Cultural Study of Contemporary Societies: Puerto Rico" (Steward and Manners 1953). Clemmer writes, "Altogether, the publications released between 1949 and 1953 represent nearly the entire gamut of Steward's broad range of interests: from cultural evolution, prehistory, and archaeology to the search for causality and cultural "laws" to area studies, the study of contemporary societies, and the relationship of local cultural systems to national ones (Clemmer 1999: xiv)."
133:
477:. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, American anthropologists were suspicious of generalizations and often unwilling to generalize conclusions from the meticulously detailed monographs that they produced. Steward is notable for developing a more nomothetic, social-scientific style. His theory of "multilinear" cultural evolution examined the way in which societies adapted to their environment. This method was more nuanced than
25:
367:
on the Great Basin
Shoshone for Kroeber's Culture Element Distribution (CED) survey; in 1935 he received an appointment to the Smithsonian's Bureau of American Ethnography (BAE), which published some of his most influential works. Among them: Basin-Plateau Aboriginal Sociopolitical Groups (1938), which "fully explicated" the paradigm of cultural ecology, and helped decrease the diffusionist emphasis of American anthropology.
493:
in South
America" (Clemmer 1999: xiv). Clemmer does mention two works that contradict his characteristic style and reveal a less familiar aspect to his work, which are "Aboriginal and Historic Groups of the Ute Indians of Utah: An Analysis and Native Components of the White River Ute Indians" (1963b) and "The Northern Paiute Indians" (Steward and Wheeler-Vogelin 1954; Clemmer 1999; xiv).
300:), high in the White Mountains had a significant influence on his academic and career interests. Steward's "direct engagement" with the land (specifically, subsistence through irrigation and ranching) and the Northern Paiute Amerindians that lived there became a "catalyst" for his theory and method of cultural ecology. (Kerns 1999; Murphy 1977)
492:
In regard to
Steward's Great Basin work, Clemmer writes, " ... might be characterized as a perspective that people are in large part defined by what they do for a living, can be seen in his growing interest in studying the transformation of slash-and-burn horticulturists into national proletariats
366:
Steward's research interests mainly concerned "subsistence"—- the dynamic interaction of man, environment, technology, social structure, and the organization of work—- which
Kroeber regarded as "eccentric", original, and innovative. (EthnoAdmin 2003) In 1931, Steward, needing money, began fieldwork
399:
Steward searched for cross-cultural regularities in an effort to discern principles of culture and culture change. His work explained variation in the complexity of social organization as being limited to within a range possibilities by the environment. In evolutionary terms, he described cultural
488:
Steward initially emphasized ecosystems and physical environments, but soon became interested in how these environments could influence cultures (Clemmer 1999: ix). It was during
Steward's teaching years at Columbia, which lasted until 1952, that he wrote arguably his most important theoretical
461:, where he directed the Anthropology Department and continued to teach until his retirement in 1968. There he began yet another large-scale study, a comparative analysis of modernization in eleven third world societies. The results of this research were published in three volumes entitled
400:
ecology as "multi-linear", in contrast to the unilinear typological models popular during the 19th century, and Leslie White's "universal" model. Steward's most important theoretical contributions happened during his teaching years at
Columbia (1946–53).
388:. He was also active in archaeological pursuits, successfully lobbying Congress to create the Committee for the Recovery of Archaeological Remains (the beginning of what is known presently as 'salvage archaeology') and worked with
607:
435:
355:, with whose model of "universal" cultural evolution he disagreed, although it became popular and gained the department fame and notoriety. In 1930 Steward relocated to the
319:, from which he graduated in 1925 with a B.Sc. in zoology. Although Cornell, like most universities at the time, did not have an anthropology department, its president,
587:
233:
450:. Many of these students participated with the Puerto Rico Project, yet another large-scale group research study that concerned modernization in
617:
327:. Farrand advised Steward to continue pursuing his interest (or, in Steward's words, his already chosen "life work") in anthropology at
458:
418:. Steward quickly developed a coterie of students who would later have enormous influence in the history of anthropology, including
602:
89:
597:
582:
381:
61:
612:
592:
557:
534:
511:
372:
328:
304:
200:
380:, where he initiateded the Institute for Social Anthropology in 1943. He also served on a committee to reorganize the
68:
443:
108:
42:
473:
In addition to his role as a teacher and administrator, Steward is remembered most for his method and theory of
75:
46:
57:
385:
296:. Steward's experience at the newly established Deep Springs Preparatory School (which later became
377:
35:
337:
The
Ceremonial Buffoon of the American Indian, a Study of Ritualized Clowning and Role Reversals
348:
363:, and nearby archaeological fieldwork opportunities in California, Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon.
82:
577:
572:
520:
360:
297:
187:
8:
404:
331:(Kerns 2003:71–72). Steward studied as directed by Kroeber and Lowie—- and was taught by
324:
403:
Steward's most productive years theoretically were from 1946 to 1953, while teaching at
482:
356:
320:
316:
191:
553:
530:
507:
370:
For eleven years
Steward was an administrator of considerable influence, editing the
229:
474:
289:
278:
262:
175:
156:
543:
392:
to establish the Viru Valley project, an ambitious research program involved with
481:'s theory of "universal evolution", which was influenced by philosophers such as
431:
332:
308:
282:
266:
219:
566:
447:
427:
389:
478:
439:
419:
408:
352:
312:
258:
132:
451:
293:
502:
Clemmer, Richard O., L. Daniel Myers, and Mary
Elizbeth Rudden, eds.
423:
292:
to attend boarding school in Deep Springs Valley, California, in the
504:
Julian Steward and the Great Basin: the Making of an Anthropologist.
24:
281:, where he lived on Monroe Street, NW, and later, Macomb Street in
261:
known best for his role in developing "the concept and method" of
527:
151 Scenes From The High Desert: Julian Steward's Life and Theory
415:
411:
204:
195:
347:
Steward later established an anthropology department at the
335:
in regional geography—- at Berkeley, where his dissertation
393:
608:
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
208:
351:, where he taught until 1930, when he was replaced by
257:(January 31, 1902 – February 6, 1972) was an American
323:, had previously been a professor of anthropology at
303:As an undergraduate, Steward studied for a year at
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
359:, which appealed to him for its proximity to the
564:
288:At age 16, Steward left an unhappy childhood in
588:Archaeologists of the Baja California peninsula
407:. During this time, Columbia had an influx of
463:Contemporary Change in Traditional Societies
272:
459:University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
131:
384:and played a role in the creation of the
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
446:, and influenced other scholars such as
565:
552:. University of Illinois Press, 1990.
618:20th-century American anthropologists
468:
414:who were attending school due to the
382:American Anthropological Association
265:, as well as a scientific theory of
47:adding citations to reliable sources
18:
307:, with two of his professors being
13:
373:Handbook of South American Indians
201:University of California, Berkeley
14:
629:
232:(1894–1998) (married 1930–1932);
506:University of Utah Press, 1999.
315:, after which he transferred to
23:
236:(1908–1988) (married 1933–1972)
34:needs additional citations for
603:University of Michigan faculty
529:University of Illinois Press.
457:Steward quit Columbia for the
1:
496:
376:. He also had a job with the
7:
598:Columbia University faculty
583:Deep Springs College alumni
386:National Science Foundation
10:
634:
613:People from Cleveland Park
593:Cornell University alumni
342:
240:
225:
215:
183:
164:
142:
130:
123:
550:Theory of Culture Change
465:. Steward died in 1972.
273:Early life and education
525:Kerns, Virginia. 2003:
378:Smithsonian Institution
16:American anthropologist
349:University of Michigan
339:was accepted in 1929.
544:accessed Dec. 4, 2007
521:accessed Dec. 4, 2007
255:Julian Haynes Steward
125:Julian Haynes Steward
298:Deep Springs College
277:Steward was born in
188:Deep Springs College
43:improve this article
548:Steward, Julian H.
539:Manners, Robert A.
405:Columbia University
325:Columbia University
234:Jane Cannon Steward
483:Lewis Henry Morgan
469:Work and influence
357:University of Utah
321:Livingston Farrand
317:Cornell University
192:Cornell University
541:Julian H. Steward
252:
251:
248:two grandchildren
244:Garriott Steward
230:Dorothy Nyswander
119:
118:
111:
93:
625:
475:cultural ecology
444:Robert F. Murphy
290:Washington, D.C.
279:Washington, D.C.
263:cultural ecology
246:Michael Steward
176:Urbana, Illinois
171:
168:February 6, 1972
157:Washington, D.C.
153:January 31, 1902
152:
150:
135:
121:
120:
114:
107:
103:
100:
94:
92:
58:"Julian Steward"
51:
27:
19:
633:
632:
628:
627:
626:
624:
623:
622:
563:
562:
518:Julian Steward.
516:DeCamp, Elise.
499:
471:
432:Stanley Diamond
345:
333:Oskar Schmieder
275:
199:
190:
179:
173:
169:
160:
154:
148:
146:
138:
137:Steward in 1940
126:
115:
104:
98:
95:
52:
50:
40:
28:
17:
12:
11:
5:
631:
621:
620:
615:
610:
605:
600:
595:
590:
585:
580:
575:
561:
560:
558:978-0252002953
546:
537:
535:978-0252076350
523:
514:
512:978-0874809497
498:
495:
470:
467:
436:Robert Manners
344:
341:
309:Alfred Kroeber
283:Cleveland Park
274:
271:
267:culture change
259:anthropologist
250:
249:
242:
238:
237:
227:
223:
222:
220:Anthropologist
217:
213:
212:
185:
181:
180:
174:
172:(aged 70)
166:
162:
161:
155:
144:
140:
139:
136:
128:
127:
124:
117:
116:
31:
29:
22:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
630:
619:
616:
614:
611:
609:
606:
604:
601:
599:
596:
594:
591:
589:
586:
584:
581:
579:
576:
574:
571:
570:
568:
559:
555:
551:
547:
545:
542:
538:
536:
532:
528:
524:
522:
519:
515:
513:
509:
505:
501:
500:
494:
490:
486:
484:
480:
476:
466:
464:
460:
455:
453:
449:
448:Marvin Harris
445:
441:
437:
433:
429:
428:Roy Rappaport
425:
421:
417:
413:
410:
406:
401:
397:
395:
391:
390:Gordon Willey
387:
383:
379:
375:
374:
368:
364:
362:
361:Sierra Nevada
358:
354:
350:
340:
338:
334:
330:
326:
322:
318:
314:
310:
306:
301:
299:
295:
291:
286:
284:
280:
270:
268:
264:
260:
256:
247:
243:
239:
235:
231:
228:
224:
221:
218:
214:
210:
206:
202:
197:
193:
189:
186:
182:
177:
167:
163:
158:
145:
141:
134:
129:
122:
113:
110:
102:
91:
88:
84:
81:
77:
74:
70:
67:
63:
60: –
59:
55:
54:Find sources:
48:
44:
38:
37:
32:This article
30:
26:
21:
20:
549:
540:
526:
517:
503:
491:
487:
479:Leslie White
472:
462:
456:
440:Morton Fried
420:Sidney Mintz
409:World War II
402:
398:
371:
369:
365:
353:Leslie White
346:
336:
313:Robert Lowie
302:
287:
276:
254:
253:
245:
170:(1972-02-06)
105:
96:
86:
79:
72:
65:
53:
41:Please help
36:verification
33:
578:1972 deaths
573:1902 births
452:Puerto Rico
305:UC Berkeley
294:Great Basin
567:Categories
497:References
216:Occupation
149:1902-01-31
99:March 2023
69:newspapers
424:Eric Wolf
226:Spouse(s)
184:Education
412:veterans
329:Berkeley
241:Children
416:GI Bill
83:scholar
556:
533:
510:
343:Career
178:, U.S.
159:, U.S.
85:
78:
71:
64:
56:
90:JSTOR
76:books
554:ISBN
531:ISBN
508:ISBN
394:Peru
311:and
165:Died
143:Born
62:news
209:PhD
45:by
569::
454:.
442:,
438:,
434:,
430:,
426:,
422:,
396:.
285:.
269:.
207:,
205:MA
196:BS
211:)
203:(
198:)
194:(
151:)
147:(
112:)
106:(
101:)
97:(
87:·
80:·
73:·
66:·
39:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.