Neo-evolutionism is a theoretical perspective in cultural anthropology that emerged in the mid-twentieth century as a response to the limitations of earlier evolutionary approaches. This perspective emphasized the role of ecology and technology in shaping social and cultural evolution. According to the neo-evolutionists, cultural change could be explained by societies adapting to their environment through the development of new technologies and modes of production.
Leslie White was a prominent neo-evolutionary theorist who believed that the amount of energy a society could harness and use was the primary driver of cultural evolution. He argued that as societies developed more efficient ways of harnessing energy, they could support larger populations and become more complex. Julian Steward was another significant neo-evolutionary theorist who stressed the importance of cultural adaptation to specific ecological niches. Steward contended that different environments necessitated different modes of subsistence and social organization. Societies that could adapt successfully to their environments would be more likely to survive and evolve.
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Critics of neo-evolutionism have argued that it oversimplifies cultural change by reducing it to a single variable, such as energy or ecology. Furthermore, some have criticized the emphasis on evolution as deterministic, implying that societies are inevitably destined to become more complex over time. Despite these critiques, the neo-evolutionary perspective has had a significant influence on cultural anthropology, and its ideas continue to be debated and refined today.