ecological niche theory in sociocultural anthropology: a conceptual framework and an application1
- 1 February 1977
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in American Ethnologist
- Vol. 4 (1) , 27-41
- https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1977.4.1.02a00020
Abstract
The concept of “ecological niche” is frequently employed in sociocultural anthropology, but there have been few systematic applications of it. This paper examines the utility of the concept for the analysis of social interaction and change, with special reference to complex societies. In a small agricultural valley of northern California, competition between two status groups over a scarce resource—land—has led to displacement and changing patterns of resource use. “Niche” describes the aggregate outcome of underlying processes of competition on the individual level.This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit:
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