Cultural evolution : the empirical and theoretical landscape

Author(s)
    • McCaffree, Kevin
Bibliographic Information

Cultural evolution : the empirical and theoretical landscape

Kevin McCaffree

(Evolutionary analysis in the social sciences / a series edited by Jonathan Turner and Kevin J. McCaffree)

Routledge, 2022

  • : pbk

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [226]-252) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Since the dawn of social science, theorists have debated how and why societies appear to change, develop and evolve. Today, this question is pursued by scholars across many different disciplines and our understanding of these dynamics has grown markedly. Yet, there remain important areas of disagreement and debate: what is the difference between societal change, development and evolution? What specific aspects of cultures change, develop or evolve and why? Do societies change, develop or evolve in particular ways, perhaps according to cycles, or stages or in response to survival necessities? How do different disciplines-from sociology to anthropology to psychology and economics-approach these questions? This book provides complex and nuanced answers to these, and many other, questions. First, the book invites readers to consider the broad landscape of societal dynamics across human history, beginning with humanity's origins in small nomadic bands of hunter gatherers through to the emergence of post-industrial democracies. Then, the book provides a tour of several prominent existing theories of cultural change, development and evolution. Approaches to explaining cultural dynamics will be discussed across disciplines and schools of thought, from "meme" theories to established cumulative cultural evolutionary theories to newly emerging theories on cultural tightness-looseness. The book concludes with a call for theoretical integration and a frank discussion of some of the most unexamined structures that drive cultural dynamics across schools of thought.

Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1. The Social Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness Chapter 2. "Cultural Evolution," Descriptively Chapter 3. Evolutionary Sociology Chapter 4. Cyclic Theories Chapter 5. Cumulative Cultural Evolution Chapter 6. Memetics Chapter 7. The Evolution of Norms, Values and Identities Chapter 8. Toward an Integration and Theoretical Extension

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Details
  • NCID
    BC18853329
  • ISBN
    • 9781032117348
  • LCCN
    2021037089
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    New York
  • Pages/Volumes
    266 p.
  • Size
    23 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
  • Parent Bibliography ID
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