Ethnographic fieldwork had been undertaken mainly in colonial situations characterized by contact between conquering and conquered cultures. This experience produced a theory of cultural cross-fertilization (acculturation) and culture change. A legacy of colonialism was the great differential between wealthy and less wealthy parts of the world. The “development project” undertaken by the wealthier nations after World War II to relieve colonial poverty and diminish global inequities produced various cultural theories of development based on continuing anthropological research as well as strong critiques of the discipline’s role in development. Cultural anthropology has maintained its concern for the history of change in ...(100 of 23980 words)
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