Cultural Materialism of Food Banks

Introduction

Cultural materialism is a scientific research approach in anthropology and sociology , which gives priority to material conditions in explaining the causes of cultural differences and similarities (Maxine, 11). It proposes three divisions for the components of cultures: infrastructure, structure and superstructure. The infrastructure, which corresponds to the practices of production and reproduction, have causal priority over the other two sectors to be more related to survival and well-being. The structure consists of the organizational characteristics such as kinship and economic policy, while the superstructure is composed of ideological and symbolic sectors like religion.

The "infrastructure" consists of modes of production and reproduction. The mode of production includes the technology and practices employed in the production of food and energy, given the constraints of the natural environment. Thus, some components of the mode of production would be the technology of subsistence, the ecosystems and patterns of work. Playback mode includes the practices employed to expand, reduce and maintain the population, fertility, birth, contraception .

The "structure" would include the domestic economy and political economy. Home economics includes the organization of production, exchange and consumption in homes, apartments or other households. Its categories are associated with family structure, the domestic division of labor, enculturation , education, gender roles and age, domestic hierarchies, etc.. Political economy is the organization of production , exchange and consumption between bands, villages, chiefdoms, states or other political units. It includes categories such as political organization (factions, clubs, associations, corporations), the division of labor , taxes, the classes , castes , hierarchies urban or rural, political and military control, the war .

The "superstructure" is made up of behavior and thought devoted to artistic activities, games, rituals and intellectuals along with all the mental and emic aspects of the structure and infrastructure of a culture. Includes concepts such as art, music, dance, literature, advertising, rituals , sports , religion , ideology , taboos .

Settings and Context

Distinguishing between elements of infrastructure and superstructure is by no means as easy as it appears. First, Harris classifies science as part of the behavioral superstructure. Yet it is difficult to see how science can be superstructural while technology is infrastructural. How does one classify a computer? Does its categorization as infrastructural or superstructural depend on its use (e.g., when used by an academic on university time it is superstructural, but when used by the same academic while consulting for a business it is infrastructural)? Further, it is difficult to see how the thought processes of a technician trying to find the problem with a malfunctioning machine can be emic and superstructural while the machine itself, the tools he is using, and his behavior in trying to fix the machine are infrastructural (Watson, 723-40). Are his thought processes (e.g., problem solving by trying out operations in his head before actually performing them on the machine) determined by his behavior, or is his problem-solving behavior a reflection or outcome of his thought? Secondly, Harris considers both subsistence-maintaining labor and ...