Culturality index of Chile: A methodological approach to cultural materialism

José Francisco Vergara-Perucich, Carlos Aguirre-Nuñez

Article ID: 2566
Vol 8, Issue 1, 2024

VIEWS - 377 (Abstract) 327 (PDF)

Abstract


This article reports the development of an index of culturality in Chile. Fifteen quantitative variables indicative of local cultural development are used to measure the access to cultural opportunities in each Chilean district. This approach was adopted from the theoretical framework of cultural materialism theorized by Marvin Harris in the seventies. Using this framework, a ranking is developed among 164 districts to determine the degree of cultural development exists in each and the variables that are the influential on the enhancement of this indicator. The results showed that the districts of Rancagua, Providencia, La Reina, El Bosque, and Valparaíso have better cultural opportunities based on their material forms, which are mainly driven by obtaining funds for cultural projects, workers’ salaries, civic activity, and public libraries. Based on the results of this ranking, a baseline is proposed to develop it using new data. In addition, recommendations are provided regarding public policies that have promoted cultural development in the communities with unsuccessful results. The article provides significant information for decision makers in Chile and a quantitative method for exploring cultural materialism in specific territories.


Keywords


cultural materialism; Marvin Harris; Mahalanobis; principal component analysis

Full Text:

PDF


References


Araujo K (2017). Subject and neoliberalism in Chile: Rejections and attachments (Spanish). New World New Worlds 1–14. doi: 10.4000/nuevomundo.70649

Bengoa J (2014). The trajectory of anthropology in Chile (Spanish). Revista Antropologías Del Sur 1(1): 15–42. doi: 10.25074/rantros.v1i1.769

CENSO (2017). Censo Nacional 2017 (Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas. Available online: http://www.censo2017.cl/ (accessed on 17 September 2023).

Domínguez Serrano M, Blancas Peral FJ, Guerrero Casas FM, González Lozano M (2016). A critical review for the construction of synthetic indicators (Spanish). Revista de Métodos Cuantitativos Para La Economía y La Empresa 11: 41–70. doi: 10.46661/revmetodoscuanteconempresa.2094

Gayo M, Méndez ML, Teitelboim B (2016). Tertiarization in Chile: Cultural inequality and occupational structure (Spanish). CEPAL Review 2016(119): 187–207. doi: 10.18356/d08068b2-es

Godoy Ramos CG (2016). “We Are Not Feminist”. Gender, Equality and Neoliberalism in Chile (Spanish). Revista Estudos Feministas 24(3): 871–889. doi: 10.1590/1806-9584-2016v24n3p871

Harris M (1971). The Rise Anthropological Theory, 4th ed. Thomas Y. Crowell Company.

Harris M (1979). Cultural Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture. Random House.

Heinen HD, Harris M (1975). On cultural materialism, Marx, and the “Hegelian monkey.” Current Anthropology 16(3): 450–456. doi: 10.1086/201584

INE (2017). Population and Housing Census 2017 (Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas.

INE (2020). National Employment Survey (Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas. Available online: https://www.ine.gob.cl/encuesta-empleo-contexto-covid-19/para-que-sirve (accessed on 17 September 2023).

Lloyd KE (1985). Cultural materialism: The struggle for a science of culture by Marvin Harris. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 43(2): 279–287. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1985.43-279

Lozares CC, Roldan PL (1991). The analysis of principal components: Application to the analysis of secondary data (Spanish). Revista de Sociología 37: 31–63. Available online: https://www.raco.cat/index.php/papers/article/download/25101/58447 (accessed on 17 September 2023).

Mayol A, Azocar C, Azocar C (2012). El Chile Profundo: Cultural Models of Inequality and Their Resistance (Spanish). Liberalia Ediciones Ltda.

MIDESO (2018). Sample Design Methodology CASEN 2017 Survey (Spanish). Ministerio de Desarrollo Social.

Ministerio de la Cultura y las Artes (2020). Publicaciones. Available online: https://www.cultura.gob.cl/publicaciones/ (accessed on 17 September 2023).

National Council for Culture and the Arts (2016). Update on the economic impact of the creative sector in Chile (Spanish). Available online: http://observatorio.cultura.gob.cl/index.php/tag/cuenta-satelite-de-cultura/ (accessed on 17 September 2023).

Pérez-Ahumada P (2014). Class consciousness in a mature neoliberal society: Evidence from Chile. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 38: 57–75. doi: 10.1016/j.rssm.2014.06.002

Pérez M (2017). A new Poblador is being born: Housing struggles in a gentrified area of Santiago. Latin American Perspectives 44(3): 28–45. doi: 10.1177/0094582x16668318

Pérez RE, Medrano LA (2010). Exploratory factor analysis: Conceptual and methodological bases (Spanish). Argentine Journal of Behavioral Sciences (RACC) 2(1): 58–66.

Rodríguez-Weber JE (2017). The political economy of income inequality in Chile since 1850. Has Latin American inequality changed direction? Looking over the long run. Springer Open. pp. 43–64.

Rodrigo LM, Atienza M (2014). Migration and regional representations: speeches about the Antofagasta Region (Spanish). EURE, 40(120), 159–181. doi: 10.4067/S0250-71612014000200008

Ros M (2008). Cultural values and socioeconomic development: A comparison between cultural theories. Journal of Social Psychology 23(3): 347–365. doi: 10.1174/021347408785843024

SERVEL (2023). Open data statistics (Spanish). Available online: https://www.servel.cl/centro-de-datos/estadisticas-de-datos-abiertos-4zg/ (accessed on 17 September 2023).

Solimano A (2012). Chile and the Neoliberal Trap: The Post-Pinochet Era. Cambridge University Press.

Stefoni C, Leiva S, Bonhomme M (2017). International migration and labor precariousness. The case of the construction industry in Chile (Spanish). REMHU: Revista Interdisciplinar Da Mobilidade Humana 25(49): 95–112. doi: 10.1590/1980-85852503880004906

Subercaseaux B (2016). Cultural policies in Chile: A historical perspective (Spanish). Estudios Públicos 144: 205–232.

Taylor MK, Bunge M, Gaines AD, et al. (1985). Symbolic dimensions in cultural anthropology [and comments and reply]. Current Anthropology 26(2): 167–185. doi: 10.1086/203245

Tijoux ME (2016). Racism in Chile. The skin as a mark of immigration (Spanish). Universitaria.

Vergara-Perucich JF (2018). Neoliberalism (Spanish). Available online: http://www.lulu.com/shop/josé-francisco-vergara-perucich/neoliberalandia/paperback/product-23754939.html?ppn=1 (accessed on 17 September 2023).

Wenden AL (1981). Principal Component Analysis (no. 3). Department of Statistics UOC.

Westen D, Chibnik M, Diener P, et al. (1984). Cultural materialism: Food for thought or bum steer? [and comments and replies]. Current Anthropology 25(5): 639–653. doi: 10.1086/203201




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v8i1.2566

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2023 José Francisco Vergara-Perucich, Carlos Aguirre-Nuñez

License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.