Final answer:
Unilinear cultural evolution was a 19th-century anthropological theory suggesting all cultures evolve through a set path from savagery to civilization, which has been criticized and largely abandoned due to its ethnocentric implications.
Step-by-step explanation:
The late-19th century concept of unilinear cultural evolution is a theory proposed by anthropologists such as E. B. Tylor and Lewis H. Morgan, which posited that all cultures develop through the same set of stages in their progress toward civilization. This theory lined up the stages of cultural development as moving from 'savagery', through 'barbarism', to 'civilization'. These stages were associated with technological advancements and changes in social practices and thought.
However, this theory faced criticism for its ethnocentric bias, often justifying colonialist attitudes and social inequalities by portraying European civilization as the pinnacle of cultural evolution. Anthropologists like Franz Boas challenged this theory, arguing that cultures evolve along unique historical trajectories and through interactions with each other, rather than through a single linear path.
While the concept of unilinear cultural evolution has been largely abandoned within the field of anthropology, its legacy persists in some contemporary attitudes that erroneously categorize countries or cultures as 'developed' or 'undeveloped' based on a Euro-American standard of progress.