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Cultural Complexity Revisited

Brandon University

Cultural complexity has been defined in at least two different ways. First, Murdock and Provost conceptualized cultural complexity not as a single construct but rather as a set of constructs by which societies may be distinguished along the lines of known developmental sequences. Second, many anthropologists have conceptualized cultural complexity as a single construct along the lines of Spencerian differentiation/interdependence or (more loosely) as cultural heterogeneity. Chick made several criticisms of past treatments of cultural complexity but, nevertheless, assumed cultural complexity to be a single construct. In the present article, the approach of Murdock is reasserted. With this approach, Chick’s criticisms disappear. It is shown why the subject area traditionally thought of as cultural complexity has so many impacts on other parts of culture.

Key Words: cultural complexity • standard cross-cultural sample

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