Origins

• Evolutionism was first proposed by Lewis Henry Morgan in his 1877 book "Ancient Society". Morgan theorized that all societies had to pass through three evolutionary stages: from savagery to barbarism, and from there to civilization. This theory was popular with Morgan's peers, who took it for granted that their Victorian society was the pinnacle of civilization.
  
  

The Decline of Evolutionism

• In the early 20th century, anthropologists began to find the idea of ranking some societies as "higher" than others morally repugnant. Franz Boas and his student Margaret Mead are two famous anthropologists who stood out against placing cultures and societies in any sort of hierarchical system.
  
  

Evolutionism Today

• Today, evolutionism has become incorporated into theories of modernization, ecological anthropology and research on development and underdevelopment. Rather than imposing a hierarchical grading of societies, evolutionism recognizes changes not only in the complexity but in the types of complexity of contemporary societies.