Final answer:
The statement is true; anthropology focuses on how people make a living through their engagement with the environment, reflecting different modes of subsistence and material culture.
Step-by-step explanation:
A key focus in the anthropological concept of materialism is on how people make a living.True or False? The statement is true. Anthropology, concerned with various aspects of human life and culture, includes examining how individuals and groups sustain their existence through different modes of subsistence. These modes are part of material culture and reflect the strategies societies use to produce, exchange, and consume necessary resources. Furthermore, anthropologists are interested in how these practices relate to systems of meaning, values, and environmental interactions, differing from economists who predominantly focus on market-driven aspects and universal economic principles.
Materialism in anthropology considers the tangible aspects of culture such as tools, technology, and the built environment, but it is also an analytical framework to understand how people engage with their physical surroundings to meet their needs. Materialism as a wider philosophic concept posits that all things are made of matter or, in modern interpretations, forms of energy. Hence, understanding material culture, including the economic basis of societies, is essential in anthropological research.