Ecological Generalization and Structural Transformation of Sociocultural Systems1

In: American anthropologist: AA, Band 76, Heft 3, S. 530-552

Abstract

In recent years, refinements and extensions of the theory of sociocultural evolution have not developed at a pace consistent with the theory's potential. It is suggested that the abatement in theory generating activity is due in part to a lack of clarity in the statement of certain fundamental ideas in the now classic Evolution and Culture, edited by Sahlins and Service (1960). The present essay attempts to improve upon their contribution by the clarification, modification, and extension of some aspects of the general theory of sociocultural evolution. The result is a series of theoretical propositions which give rigorous expression to many of the central ideas in the theory and underlines the predictive power of the concept of ecological generalization. The primary implication of this paper is that further development of the theory of sociocultural evolution is likely to proceed only if a greater degree of clarity in definition and increased rigor in the explicit statement of theoretical propositions is adopted as a mode of communication among theoreticians.