Question

cargo cults are revitalization movements that emerge when traditional communities have regular contact with industrial societies but lack their wealth, technology, and living standards. What are cargo cults based around?

Answer 1

Cargo cults are movements centered on the expected arrival of material wealth from technologically advanced societies, generally not favored as a term by anthropologists due to its oversimplification and negative connotations. They arose in indigenous cultures during periods of significant change, such as post-colonialism and the influence of industrial and urban development.

Step-by-step explanation:

Cargo cults are revitalization movements that are based around the anticipation of wealth and prosperity, often manifested in the belief of an eventual delivery of goods and modern commodities from more technologically advanced societies. The term "cargo cult" is often associated with post-colonial societies in the Pacific where such movements arose when indigenous people observed the vast supplies of goods or "cargo" brought by World War II military forces.

These movements are generally not preferred to be called cargo cults by anthropologists as the term may oversimplify and distort the complex motivations behind the practices involved in these movements, and because 'cult' carries connotations of fringe or dangerous beliefs. In the context of cultural changes and modernity, cargo cults are one example of how societies react to the pressures and influences brought on by the introduction of industrialization and urbanization.