Topic > Cultural ecology and environmental anthropology

Based on the ideas of Leslie White, the relationship between the production of “culture” and what we know as “nature” seemed to be reduced and understood in a single rigorous formula that addressed the use of technology on the environment as an independent variable, where the production of cultural materials, beliefs, practices derives from this particular factor (Wardlow 2015: Lecture Notes). This is a flawed argument, because it tends to overlook and ignore aspects of human free will and their cultural ideas that may have helped advance their abilities to adapt to their environment and produce cultural materials, beliefs, and practices in the first place. Furthermore, White's hierarchical progression in favoring technology as the foundation of cultural progression and imposing categories such as technology, social, and ideology as separate domains gives false differentiation and ignores their possibilities to influence each other (Wardlow 2015: Lecture Notes) . A similar criticism has been given to Julian Steward's cultural ecology perspective, as the idea of ​​cultural practices and beliefs constructed solely to adapt to the respective environment and judge its efficiency in determining cultural progression is