Cultural Evolution: The Empirical and Theoretical Landscape

by Kevin McCaffree

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 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.

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 14, 2022

Reviews

[Eduardo Enríquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly learned and transdisciplinary account of human cultural evolution from our origins to the present day, which considers inputs and theories from areas of knowledge as diverse as sociology, political science, behaviour ecology, economy, psychology, anthropology and biology. It is indeed a great reference for those seeking to understand the different aspects of social and cultural transformation.

Regarding McCaffree's contributions to the topics at hand, they certainly are interesting and I would hope they make an impact, but I don't know how possible that can be in an area as chaotic as cultural evolution is. As divulgation, nevertheless, the book is quite outstanding.

[Jonathan Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely unique book. Wide ranging and packed with information. Like a masters degree in a book.