The Evolution of Human Societies

by Johnson, Allen W.; Earle, Timothy

• ISBN13: 9780804740326
• ISBN10: 0804740321
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

By combining an original thesis and a representative body of ethnographic data, this ambitious work seeks to describe and explain the growth in complexity of human societies. Its emphasis is on the causes, mechanisms, and patterns of cultural evolution, which the authors explain in terms of a coherent theory of political economy--defined as the mobilization and exchange of goods and services between families. The authors show that the interconnected processes of technological change and population growth are the motor of social change, resulting in three related processes--intensification, integration, and stratification--that transform human societies over time. The validity of their theory rests on evidence drawn from 19 case studies that range widely over time and space. For this new edition, the authors have thoroughly rewritten the theoretical argument for greater clarity, updated the case materials to incorporate new research, and added a new chapter that applies their theoretical perspective to the problems of change since the industrial revolution and the globalization of trade and political influence. Reviews of the First Edition "In a book full of perceptive observations and persuasive arguments . . . Johnson and Earle show in masterly detail how societies articulate to their environments and . . . how they evolve." --Ethnohistory "A major contribution. . . . The book is a marvelous synthesis of ethnographic and historical data." --American Journal of Sociology "A large amount of research and thought has produced sensible and illuminating specific analyses of the mechanisms of evolutionary change. Another plus is that the writing is clear and the argument is neatly conceived." --American Anthropologist

Author Biography

Allen W. Johnson is Professor of Anthropology and Psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author, most recently, of Oedipus Ubiquitous: The Family Complex in World Folk Literature (Stanford, 1996). Timothy Earle is Professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University. He is the author, most recently, of How Chiefs Come to Power: The Political Economy in Prehistory (Stanford, 1997).

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(40)
Theorizing Sociocultural Evolution	2	(14)
Theories of Economic Motivation	16	(13)
The Evolutionary Process	29	(3)
The Evolutionary Typology	32	(4)
The Plan of the Book	36	(5)
Part I: The Family-Level Group
The Family Level	41	(13)
In Search of Undomesticated Humans	45	(1)
Theorizing the Family-Level Society	46	(6)
The Primary Dynamics of the Family-Level Economy and Society	52	(2)
Family-Level Foragers	54	(36)
The Shoshone of the Great Basin	58	(7)
The !Kung of the Kalahari	65	(17)
Prehistoric Forging Societies	82	(5)
Conclusions	87	(3)
Families with Domestication	90	(33)
The Machiguenga of the Peruvian Amazon	93	(19)
The Naganasan of Northern Siberia	112	(8)
Conclusions	120	(3)
Part II: The Local Group
The Local Group	123	(18)
The Domestication of the Human Species	127	(2)
Theorizing the Local Group	129	(7)
The Primary Dynamics of Local Group Economy and Society	136	(5)
The Family and the Village	141	(30)
The Yanomamo of the Venezuelan Highlands	142	(29)
The Village and the Clan	171	(32)
The Eskimos of the North Slope of Alaska	172	(7)
The Tsembaga Maring of New Guinea	179	(15)
The Turkana of Kenya	194	(6)
Conclusions	200	(3)
The Corporate Group and the Big Man Collectivity	203	(42)
Indian Fishermen of the Northwest Coast	204	(13)
The Central Enga of Higland New Guinea	217	(16)
The Kirghiz of Northeastern Afghanistan	233	(6)
Conclusions	239	(6)
Part III: The Regional Polity
The Regional Polity	245	(20)
The Political Revolution: The Origins of Civilzations	251	(3)
Theorizing the Regional Polity	254	(6)
The Primary Dynamics of the Regional Polity	260	(5)
The Simple Chiefdom	265	(16)
The Trobriand Islanders	267	(12)
Conclusions	279	(2)
The Complex Chiefdom	281	(23)
The Hawaiian Islanders	284	(10)
The Basseri of Iran	294	(7)
Conclusions	301	(3)
The Archaic State	304	(26)
France and Japan in the Middle Ages	306	(9)
The Inka: An Andean Empire	315	(13)
Conclusions	328	(2)
The Peasant Economy in the Agrarian State	330	(37)
The Brazilian Sharecroppers of Boa Ventura	334	(11)
The Chinese Villagers of Taitou	345	(11)
The Javanese Villagers of Kali Loro	356	(11)
The Evolution of Global Society	367	(26)
Theorizing Contemporary Change	371	(15)
Social Evolution and the Free Market	386	(7)
Bibliography	393	(32)
Index	425