The Evolution of Human Co-operation
Ritual and Social Complexity in Stateless Societies
- Author: Charles Stanish, University of California, Los Angeles
- Date Published: August 2017
- availability: Available
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781107180550
Hardback
Other available formats:
eBook
Looking for an inspection copy?
This title is not currently available on inspection
-
How do people living in small groups without money, markets, police and rigid social classes develop norms of economic and social cooperation that are sustainable over time? This book addresses this fundamental question and explains the origin, structure and spread of stateless societies. Using insights from game theory, ethnography and archaeology, Stanish shows how ritual - broadly defined - is the key. Ritual practices encode elaborate rules of behavior and are ingenious mechanisms of organizing society in the absence of coercive states. As well as asking why and how people choose to co-operate, Stanish also provides the theoretical framework to understand this collective action problem. He goes on to highlight the evolution of cooperation with ethnographic and archaeological data from around of the world. Merging evolutionary game theory concepts with cultural evolutionary theory, this book will appeal to those seeking a transdisciplinary approach to one of the greatest problems in human evolution.
Read more- Gives a theoretical framework to explain the emergence of social complexity in non-state societies that avoids overly reductive neo-Darwinian models
- Offers a merger of evolutionary game theory concepts with cultural evolutionary theory
- Will be of interest to those seeking a transdisciplinary approach to one of the greatest problems in human evolution
Customer reviews
Not yet reviewed
Be the first to review
Review was not posted due to profanity
×Product details
- Date Published: August 2017
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781107180550
- length: 348 pages
- dimensions: 235 x 157 x 22 mm
- weight: 0.61kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Preface
1. The evolution of human cooperation
2. Economic anthropology of stateless societies: the rise and fall of homo economicus
3. Conditional cooperators: the evolutionary game theory revolution
4. The role of coercion in social theory
5. The ritualized economy: how people in stateless societies cooperate
6. An anthropological game theory model for the evolution of ritualized economies
7. The evolution of ritualized economies: the archaeological evidence
8. Epilogue: 'no beans, no Jesus'.
Related Books
related journals
Sorry, this resource is locked
Please register or sign in to request access. If you are having problems accessing these resources please email lecturers@cambridge.org
Register Sign in» Proceed
You are now leaving the Cambridge University Press website. Your eBook purchase and download will be completed by our partner www.ebooks.com. Please see the permission section of the www.ebooks.com catalogue page for details of the print & copy limits on our eBooks.
Continue ×Are you sure you want to delete your account?
This cannot be undone.
Thank you for your feedback which will help us improve our service.
If you requested a response, we will make sure to get back to you shortly.
×