Primitive culture

In anthropology, a primitive culture is one that lacks major signs of economic development or modernity. For instance, it might lack a written language or advanced technology and have a limited and isolated population. The term was used by Western writers to decribe foreign cultures contacted by European colonists and explorers.

Related Topics:
Anthropology - Economic development - Modernity - Western

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Many sociologists and other writers portrayed primitive cultures as noble—noble savages—and believed that their lack of technology and less integrated economies made them ideal examples of the correct human lifestyle. Among these thinkers were Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who is most frequently associated with the idea of the noble savage based on his Discourse on Inequality, and Karl Polanyi, who in The Great Transformation praised the economic organization of primitive societies as less destructive than the market economy. The belief that primitve cultures are ideal is often described as primitivism; branches of this theory include primitive communism and anarcho-primitivism.

Related Topics:
Noble savage - Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Discourse on Inequality - Karl Polanyi - The Great Transformation - Market economy - Primitivism - Primitive communism - Anarcho-primitivism

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Though belief in the "noble savage" has not disappeared, describing a culture as primitive is often considered politically incorrect and offensive today. Use of the term, especially in academic settings, has thus diminished.

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