How does cultural ecology examine the relationship between culture and environment?

Developed by Julian Steward in 1955, cultural ecology emerged as a reaction against the extremes of environmental determinism—which claimed the environment dictates human behavior—and possibilism, which argued the environment merely sets broad limits.1

Instead, cultural ecology examines the relationship between culture and the environment by viewing the natural world as a set of problems and opportunities. Steward proposed that human societies adapt to their surroundings by modifying their technology, economic organization, and social structures—such as kinship or religion—to best pursue their livelihoods.1

Crucially, this approach recognizes that cultural adaptations depend as much on the existing sociocultural features of a group as they do on the environment itself. For example, a society’s specific tools and resource-gathering methods dictate how they interact with a landscape. Steward used this framework to explain "multilinear evolution," arguing that while social systems arise from patterns of resource exploitation, different physical and historical settings lead to diverse social outcomes.12