transcending the barrierseric wolf beyond marx
"My primary interest is to explain something out there that impinges me, and I would sell my soul to the devil if I thought it would help." Eric Wolf's interest into the realm of anthropology emerged upon recognition of the theorist- imposed boundaries, encompassing both theories and subjects, which current and past anthropological scholars had constructed. These boundaries, Wolf believed, were a result of theorist tending to societies and cultures as fixed entities-static, bounded and autonomous, rather then describing and interpreting societies within a state of constant change, ceaselessly vulnerable to external influence, and always interconnected with other societies. Yet to transcend current anthropological theories and boundaries, and to explain this interconnectedness, in attempt to understand the world, Wolf believed three criteria must be met: 1) To trace the world market and the course of capitalist development, 2) To develop this theory of this growth and development and finally, one must be able to relate both the history and theory of that unfolding development to processes that affect and change the lives of local populations Wolf, 1982:21)
Europe and the People Without History. In other words, the economic base provided the cultural superstructure, thus culture could only be understood by drawing upon the changing nature of human production and reproduction, which inevitably is controlled by those in which power is invested-read the ruling class. It was these "Modes of Production", referring to the specific technologies, which form the base or the "infrastructure" of a society. It is this desire which pushes him beyond simply an economic based theory towards one that is also political, situated upon the structural power exerted in society, ultimately making his analysis one of economic and political processes, only seen through macroscopic historical lenses. We must distinguish between reality culture and ideology-making, and recognize that the creation or dismantling of cultures always goes on within extensive social fields, structured by the dominant modes of production (Wolf, 1984:393) Wolf's angle of theory demonstrates a cornucopia of processes and ideas, ultimately illustrating the relationship between society, culture, ideology and modes of production. By calling attention to the history of a society it allows one to look at the processes unfolding over time, these processes of change and refashion are seen then more clearly once they are immersed with an all encompassing macrosetting where each society is seen as connected to those in its periphery. Los Angeles/Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. Capitalist Development The influence of Lewis Henry Morgon and his unilinear version of social evolution posed as the backbone for Karl Marx and Fred Engels. Growth of a Theory Wolf adapted this Marxist approach in his theorizing, that is paying attention to the fundamental dynamics of change and phenomena such as exploitation, domination and colonialism from the get- go of his anthropological inquiry. To maintain this power, Marx believed, the ruling class will resort to whatever means they can, especially through futility in ideological mystification, resulting in the construction of a false consciousness, or a false belief of the lower class. making Wolf's theory a process of politics and economy, of structural power and Marxist Mode of productionBeyond Marxism As illustrated above Wolf views society as "interpenetrating, complex and interconnected" (Wolf, 1988:753) , but the world is interconnected on a much deeper level then that simply purposed by mode of production and Marxist theory. His model of a society henceforth developed as one vulnerable to a continual process of change and structuring subjected by the people in the "outside world" and the capitalist mode of production, emphasizing the power exerted to produce ideology, ultimately unintentionally dominates each member of society. Although backboned by a Marxist ideology, his drive to illuminate the interconnectedness between anthropologically constructed spheres, demonstrates his desire to stem away from rigid distinctions which "pure" Marxist thought offers.
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