Configuration of Culture Growth

work by Kroeber

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July 23, 2026

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A.L. Kroeber's Configurations of Culture Growth (1944) is a significant work in anthropology that explores the development and decline of human thought and art across civilizations. Kroeber, an influential American anthropologist, was deeply interested in understanding the nature of culture and its processes.12

The book is part of the broader "configurational approach" in cultural anthropology, which emphasizes studying the patterns and configurations of local cultural beliefs and values. This approach, influenced by figures like Edward Sapir and Ruth Benedict, focuses on how cultural traits relate to each other and how these patterns change over time. Kroeber's work, alongside others, contributed to the understanding of culture as a complex, learned phenomenon shaped by societal interactions.21

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A.L. Kroeber
…efforts, Configurations of Culture Growth (1945), sought to trace the growth and decline of all of civilized man’s thought and art. The Nature of Culture (1952) collected Kroeber’s essays published on such topics as cultural theory, kinship, social psychology, and psychoanalysis.
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…efforts, Configurations of Culture Growth (1945), sought to trace the growth and decline of all of civilized man’s thought and art. The Nature of Culture (1952) collected Kroeber’s essays published on such topics as cultural theory, kinship, social psychology, and psychoanalysis.
Read More