What were the problems?
n The other side (and this is the one that makes
people uneasy)
is that the hypotheses were of ‘cultural layers’ and ‘culture strata’ and that
these were implicitly or otherwise linked to ideas of cultural evolution,
that more ‘evolved’ societies
were higher up the tree, as it were
n Ironically, this type of discourse is
exactly similar to the World Bank, and numerous other international development agencies.
‘Developed’ countries with their economic hegemony and politically correct
value-systems are
the ideal ‘developing’ countries should aspire to.
n In
many ways, Ankermann, Frobenius et al. took a much more positive view of Africa than these
insufferably smug developers.