The Evolution of Human Societies

Allen W. Johnson; Timothy Earle

Published by Stanford University Press 2000

The Evolution of Human Societies

From Foraging Group to Agrarian State, Second Edition

Allen W. Johnson and Timothy Earle

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804764513

Overview
Contents

About this book

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

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface to the Second Edition Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Tables and Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
1 Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: The Family-Level Group
2 The Family Level Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
3 Family-Level Foragers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	54
4 Families with Domestication Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
Part II: The Local Group
5 The Local Group Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
6 The Family and the Village Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
7 The Village and the Clan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
8 The Corporate Group and the Big Man Collectivity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Part III: The Regional Polity
9 The Regional Polity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
10 The Simple Chiefdom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265
11 The Complex Chiefdom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281
12 The Archaic State Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	304
13 The Peasant Economy in the Agrarian State Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	330
14 The Evolution of Global Society Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	367
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	393
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	425

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 456
Illustrations
- Other: 9 tables, 13 figures
Keywords: Anthropology -- Cultural and Social Anthropology

eBook

Published: January 21, 2022
ISBN: 9780804764513