iii. People also contradicted assumptions of the Pueblo Indians as being peaceful and reserved h. what are the alternatives? It helps environmental adaptation Rich environments with uneven distribution of resources potlatch helps spread the wealth. More wealthy groups would throw potlatches and in exchange the receiving groups would acknowledge their inferiority lll. Problem: Thats not actually what the potlatch did It wasnt about food, mainly Investigations showed that it didnt distribute wealth or food to those who needed it most i. This is one example of a functional explanation i. Looking for ways that practices and institutions in a society fulfill certain needs in a society. Seems intuitively obvious, but not i. e witchcraft and warfare 1920-1950 the Functionalist Anthropology was very popular If you break certain social rules, you may be accused of being a witch ii. In other cultures the people likely of being accused of witchcraft were overly ambitious shamans or medicine men Thought that witchcraft was a way of maintaining social conventions iv. Warfare is more difficult to explain as advantageous 1. Increases solidarity of the group(i.e. Hating the Yankee's makes Boston hang together more) k. Functionalism is mostly a game: in what way can something be functional You look at the phenomenon and try and speculate what could have caused it, instead of going to look for its source Assume that societies are in some sort of equilibrium. That notion isiii. People also contradicted assumptions of the Pueblo Indians as being peaceful and reserved. h. What are the alternatives? i. It helps environmental adaptation ii. Rich environments with uneven distribution of resources. Potlatch helps spread the wealth. More wealthy groups would throw potlatches and in exchange the receiving groups would acknowledge their inferiority. iii. Problem: That’s not actually what the potlatch did. It wasn’t about food, mainly. Investigations showed that it didn’t distribute wealth or food to those who needed it most i. This is one example of a functional explanation i. Looking for ways that practices and institutions in a society fulfill certain needs in a society. Seems intuitively obvious, but not always ii. i.e. witchcraft and warfare j. 1920-1950 the Functionalist Anthropology was very popular. i. If you break certain social rules, you may be accused of being a witch ii. In other cultures the people likely of being accused of witchcraft were overly ambitious shamans or medicine men. iii. Thought that witchcraft was a way of maintaining social conventions iv. Warfare is more difficult to explain as advantageous. 1. Increases solidarity of the group (i.e. Hating the Yankee’s makes Boston hang together more) k. Functionalism is mostly a game: in what way can something be functional. You look at the phenomenon and try and speculate what could have caused it, instead of going to look for its source. l. Assume that societies are in some sort of equilibrium. That notion is dubious