Some Recent Developments in Studies of Social and Cultural Change

struction, which were especially prominent in America during the first three decades of the present century. These analyses-which continue in diminished degree to the present day-attempted to account for the distribution of specific cultural elements and complexes of elements, drawing, where possible, upon documentary and archaeological evidence. Indeed, what might legitimately be included within the rubric of change would contain much, if not most, studies in prehistory. It is obvious that the general field of interest which the term denotes is so far-ranging as to be unmanageable in a short review. In the present article, therefore, I shall confine my remarks to selected studies of process and to conceptual and theoretical orient tions to problems of cultural change and stability. In recent years there has been a large output of research in this area. Part of this output has been generated by work in the field of economic development and by opportunities for the observation of behavioral adaptation to technological aid programs. Part has grown out of an increasing concern by political scientists, sociologists, and-to a lesser extent-psychologists with comparative work of various kinds outside the United States. The latter merits separate treatment and is outside the scope of this paper, but the reader is referred to several general works, collections of essays, and journals which serve as important outlets for reporting in these fields.1 Anthropological concern

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