, ▁was ▁the ▁inst ig ator ▁of ▁the ▁movement ▁known ▁as ▁' c ult ural ▁particular ism ' ▁in ▁which ▁the ▁emphas is ▁shift ed ▁to ▁a ▁mult il ine ar ▁approach ▁to ▁cultural ▁evolution . ▁That ▁differ ed ▁to ▁the ▁un il ine ar ▁approach ▁that ▁used ▁to ▁be ▁fav oured ▁in ▁the ▁sense ▁that ▁cult ures ▁were ▁no ▁longer ▁compared , ▁but ▁they ▁were ▁ass essed ▁uniqu ely . ▁Bo as , ▁along ▁with ▁several ▁of ▁his ▁pup ils , ▁not ably ▁A . L . ▁K roe ber , ▁Ruth ▁Bened ict ▁and ▁Margaret ▁M ead , ▁changed ▁the ▁focus ▁of ▁anth rop ological ▁research ▁to ▁the ▁effect ▁that ▁instead ▁of ▁general izing ▁cult ures , ▁the ▁attention ▁was ▁now ▁on ▁collect ing ▁empir ical ▁evidence ▁of ▁how ▁individual ▁cult ures ▁change ▁and ▁develop . ▁ ▁Mult il ine ar ▁theory ▁ ▁Cultural ▁particular ism ▁domin ated ▁popular ▁thought ▁for ▁the ▁first ▁half ▁of ▁the ▁ 2 0 th ▁century ▁before ▁American ▁anth rop olog ists , ▁including ▁Les lie ▁A . ▁White , ▁Julian ▁H . ▁Ste ward , ▁Marshall ▁D . ▁S ahl ins , ▁and ▁El man ▁R . ▁Service , ▁rev ived ▁the ▁debate ▁on ▁cultural ▁evolution . ▁These ▁the or ists ▁were ▁the ▁first ▁to ▁introduce ▁the ▁idea ▁of ▁mult il ine ar ▁cultural ▁evolution . ▁ ▁Under ▁mult il ine ar ▁theory , ▁there ▁are ▁no ▁fixed ▁stages ▁( as ▁in ▁un il ine ar ▁theory ) ▁towards ▁cultural ▁development . ▁Instead , ▁there