Social Transformations A General Theory of

In Social Transformations Stephen K. Sanderson develops a general theory of social evolution and uses it to explain the most important evolutionary transformations in human history and prehistory. In this expanded edition Sanderson has added a discussion of the biological constraints acting on humans that have helped to push social evolution along strikingly similar lines throughout the world.

Stephen K. Sanderson is professor of sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Preface

x

Preface to the Expanded Edition

xiii

Evolutionary Materialism: A General Theory of Historical Development

1

(19)

The Theoretical Strategy of Evolutionary Materialism

3

(14)

Evolutionary Materialism and World History

17

(3)

The Neolithic Revolution

20

(33)

Hunter--Gatherer Societies Before 10,000 BP

20

(3)

The Worldwide Transition to Agriculture

23

(11)

Explaining the Worldwide Transition to Agriculture

34

(15)

Conclusions

49

(4)

The Origin of Civilization and the State

53

(43)

A Typology of Sociopolitical Evolution

53

(5)

The Origin of Civilization and the State as a Process of Parallel Evolution

58

(10)

Explaining the Origin of Civilization and the State

68

(18)

The Pace of State Evolution

86

(2)

Coda: Reconstructing Social Evolution Using the Comparative Method

88

(8)

Agrarian States and their Evolutionary Dynamics

96

(38)

Social Change in Agrarian States

98

(15)

Agrarian States as Precapitalist World-Systems

113

(12)

Social Devolution and the Collapse of Agrarian States

125

(7)

Conclusion: The Evolutionary Dynamics of Agrarian States

132

(2)

The Capitalist Revolution and the Beginnings of the Modern World

134

(47)

Feudalism in World History

135

(3)

The Nature of Capitalism

138

(3)

The Origins of European Capitalism

141

(6)

The Japanese Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism

147

(8)

Theories of the Transition to Capitalism

155

(13)

A New Interpretation

168

(13)

The Evolution of the Modern World, I: The Expanding and Evolving Modern World-System

181

(63)

The Structure and Dynamics of the Modern World-System

181

(5)

The Evolution of the Capitalist World-Economy, 1500--1995

186

(10)

Hegemony in the World-Economy

196

(7)

Development and Underdevelopment in the World-System

203

(15)

Some Test Cases

218

(17)

The Interstate System: The Political Side of the Modern World-System

235

(9)

The Evolution of the Modern World, II: The Emergence of the Institutions of Modernity

244

(92)

Industrialization in the West and Japan

244

(13)

The Rise and Demise of State Socialism

257

(13)

Stratification and Mobility in the Age of Modernity

270

(15)

The Evolution of the Modern State

285

(19)

The Emergence and Expansion of Mass Education

304

(13)

The Scientific Revolution and the Development of Modern Science

317

(15)

The Emergence of a Postindustrial Society?

332

(4)

The Question of Progress

336

(22)

Before the Rise of Modern Capitalism

337

(9)

After the Rise of Modern Capitalism

346

(10)

Conclusions

356

(2)

The Evolving Future

358

(23)

A Futuristic Scenario: W. Warren Wagar

359

(2)

The Challenges: Population Growth and Ecological Degradation

361

(6)

The Challenges: Nuclear War

367

(2)

The Challenges: A World State

369

(1)

The Challenges: Capitalism, Socialism, or Barbarism?

370

(5)

The Crisis and Collapse of Capitalist-Sensate Culture

375

(6)

Theoretical Reprise

381

(22)

Afterword to the Expanded Edition: Biological Constraints on Social Evolution

403

(26)

References

429

(35)

Index

464

(15)

About the Author

479

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Social Transformations A General Theory of Historical Development

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials