During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the discipline of cultural anthropology developed somewhat differently in Europe and North America with each region contributing new dimensions to ...During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the discipline of cultural anthropology developed somewhat differently in Europe and North America with each region contributing new dimensions to the concept of culture. Many European anthropologists were particularly interested in how societies were structured and how they remained stable over time.
Functionalism considers a culture as an interrelated whole, not a collection of isolated traits. Like a human being has various organs that are interconnected and necessary for the body to function co...Functionalism considers a culture as an interrelated whole, not a collection of isolated traits. Like a human being has various organs that are interconnected and necessary for the body to function correctly, so society is a system of interconnected parts that make the whole function efficiently. The Functionalists examined how a particular cultural phase is interrelated with other aspects of the culture and how it affects the whole system of the society; in other words, cause and effect.
