Culture and Evolution

Graduate Class

Lectures and Readings

Anthropology has a long history of efforts to incorporate evolutionary theory into the study of culture and culture change. This class introduces the student to that history, an intellectual project that has incorporated archaeological, historical and ethnographic data into the construction of processural trajectories of culture change. In recent years there has been an expanding interest in new and innovative approaches to applying evolutionary theory to culture. The course begins with an exploration of the classic cultural evolution of the pioneers of the discipline. We spend the remainder of the course investigating each of the new evolutionary paradigms of understanding: evolutionary ecology, dual inheritance, evolutionary psychology, and complexity/expanded evolutionary theory. These theories differ in focus. One is more psychological, one behavioral, one addresses change in the symbolic-cultural, and one locates culture change within the self-organization of ecosystems, economies, and our biosphere. Together these approaches contribute to a broader understanding of the processes of human development, and its context as an evolutionary science.

Much of this material is also covered in the undergraduate class, The New Cultural Evolution. That class is simplified somewhat and briefer in content. It does not include the Complexity and Cultural Evolution section below. In a way, it has a more coherent narrative content. That is because the material below was gradually assembled over 15 years or more. There are 30 ppts. Our semesters were painfully long, 18 weeks, which usually meant 16 classes and 2 exam weeks. Obviously, 30 ppts were never presented in one semester. Over the years, these ppts came and went, and sometimes returned, all depending on my interests at the time. I’ve included them all here because each has value in its own ways, IMO.

Introduction

  • Introduction to Biocultural Anthropology

    • Our graduate school was aiming to emphasize biocultural anthropology, with cultural evolution as one component. I produced this simple, and hopefully entertaining ppt, to briefly name and describe possible areas of research. In addition to cultural evolution we proposed paleoanthropology, genetic anthropology, human osteology, forensic anthropology, primatology, and physical variation, together offered as scientific biocultural anthropology.

Classic Cultural Evolution (1860s-1980s-Present) (Macro)

  • Cultural Evolution

    • These first two ppts begin with reference to the graduate History and Theory class. With or without that class, the ppts stand very well on their own. This ppt recites the history of classic cultural evolution. It goes back further in time than many anthropology students expect, and importantly it is located in a new era of biological science.

  • Sociocultural Evolution (Johnson and Earle, 1989, Ch. 1)

    • This ppt begins with discussion of the classic ‘stage theories’ of cultural evolution. The second half of the ppt relates that tradition to the newer ‘subsistence strategy’ stage approaches, and then compares them to the newer ‘big history’ efforts, especially the work of Ian Morris. The ppt ends by comparing that work with theories of energy self-organization that are taken up below under Complexity and Cultural Evolution. It finishes with some ‘creative’ systems diagrams of my own.

  • Functionalisms

    • Many of the classic approaches to cultural evolution have been accused of being ‘functionalist’. What does that mean? This valuable ppt takes a deep dive into the concept of functionality in science. Darwinian explanations are functional, how are they justified? A graphical model of a functional explanations is employed (from W&S 1992:42) to interrogate many of the classical cases of functional explanation in anthropology. This ppt is complemented by a second part in the ppt below, Functionalism and NET.

  • Domestication and Big History

    • This brief ppt retells the story of plant and animal domestication as told by Ian Morris in Why the West Rules - For Now. A warming period after the last ice age was followed suddenly by a return to ice age temperatures for a brief period. It is argued that domestication appeared in response to the cooling.

  • Taiwan Prehistory

    • This is my story of Taiwan prehistory. Taiwan’s unique environment, geography, and weather are critical to the story. It is also included in my Human Adaptation class where it fits among the Trade-based Polities of SE Asia. See discussion there.

Complexity and Cultural Evolution (1980s-Present) (Macro)

Dual Inheritance / Coevolution (1980s-Present) (Micro)

Human Behavioral Ecology (1980s-Present) (Middle Range)

Evolutionary Psychology (1980s-Present) (Micro)

Summing Up