Theory and Strategy in the Study of Cultural Adaptability

This evolutionary theory is also a functional theory in the sense that it involves the basic functional thesis that (1) institutions are mechanisms of social interaction which serve the continued life of the society, and (2) all parts of the social system must form an integrated whole so that changes in one part require adjustments in others. In addition, the functional theory stresses the priority of some aspects of society over others. To translate a theme from George Orwell's Animal Farm, all social institutions are basic, but some are more basic than others. That is to say, some aspects of the situation have immediate, direct, and consistent influences on the total structure of society, whereas others are peripheral. We do not deny that art and economy are related, nor even that art might change the economy of a society; however, it is more likely and more frequent that the economy changes the art. Furthermore, certain areas of life activity lie closer to such external factors as environment or such internal ones as technical change and are therefore more vulnerable to their pressures.