Dr. John Bunce & Dr. Caissa Revilla Minaya, Culture, Environment and Health Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Title: Cultural dynamics in an Indigenous Amazonian population: An exploration of intra- and inter-ethnic causal mechanisms
Abstract: For several decades, evolutionary social science theorists have devoted considerable attention to exploring various mechanisms that influence the adaptive, and non-adaptive, dynamics of human culture. However, less attention has focused on the empirical study of such mechanisms in real-world human populations, particularly in contexts of disempowered minorities, for whom cultural change may co-occur with a desire to maintain an ethnic identity distinct from that of powerful neighboring groups. Here, we present our recent efforts to better understand mechanisms driving cultural dynamics in an Indigenous Matsigenka population in a remote region of Amazonian Peru. Caissa uses Bayesian item-response theory models to characterize variation within the complex set of dietary restrictions (taboos) practiced by Matsigenka parents of young children. She combines this analysis with insights from extensive participant observation to develop a theory for the endogenous emergence of some such cultural practices among the Matsigenka. John uses Bayesian analysis of interview data to explore how cultural norms in domains such as child-rearing, fairness, and inheritance are influenced by inter-ethnic interactions between Matsigenka and neighboring Mestizos. He uses a longitudinal quantitative and participatory study of norm change among Matsigenka children attending Mestizo-run boarding schools to narrow the range of possible mechanisms responsible for generating individual-level variation in such ethnic-typical beliefs. Together, we show how insights gained through both quantitative and qualitative empirical work can inform general theories of the intra- and inter-ethnic causal mechanisms influencing cultural dynamics in our species.
This talk will be presented via Zoom only.
Zoom link: https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92826436236?pwd=SytQNTNPSWdwaDNlTm05d2srdXNHUT09
Meeting ID: 928 2643 6236
Passcode: BEC