Anthropological Study of Los Angeles

"Cultural anthropology studies the origins and history of man's cultures, their evolution and development, and the structure and functioning of human cultures in every place and time" (Beals, 1959, p. 9). Through this form of research bits and pieces of evidence eventually point to man's reactions in cultural form to the everpresent problems he/she confronts through the physical environment, through attempts to work and live with others and through the interaction this necessitates between human groups. As a result, each area of the world has its own distinctive culture. Los Angeles is no different. In fact, many may argue it is in a category all by itself.

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levated trains or underground subways, and instead, adopted the automobile with a passion unseen elsewhere "Automobiles became numerous in the region at a time when they were rare and impractical novelties elsewhere" (Nelson. 1983, p. 276). Part of this is due to the fact that Los Angeles grew to metropolitan size only after the automobile had arrived and part is due to the region's weather and its compatibility with early automobile transportation. And, as the interest in them increased, particularly after 1920 when they became much more dependable, governmental agencies turned to funding "motorways" through gasoline taxes while the streetcar declined and eventually was abandoned. The result was a highway system that cut through existing neighborhoods creating new ones and in many instances forming a "line of demarkation" that divided the "haves" from the "have nots," the whites from the blacks. Today, the Los Angeles metropolis is a fragmented area comprised of over a hundred cities, and suffering from a lack of heart or "town square." Instead of development evolving and spiraling out from the city's core, it is scattered around with nothing to tie it together but the automobile and its network of highways, a place where e
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Los Angeles, Ralph Linton, Los Angeles's, Southern California, According Benedict, Angeles Cultural, Blacks Taliaferro, York City, Colorado River, Angeles Basin's, los angeles, bohannan 1988, taliaferro 1991, nelson 1983, 1991 32, 1983 vii, mann 1990, taliaferro 1991 32, nelson 1983 vii, mann 1990 268, 1988 174, significance los angeles, significance los, 1990 268, bohannan 1988 174,
Approximate Word count = 2152
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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