The Evolution of Human Societies: From Foraging Group to Agrarian State, Second Edition / Edition 2

by Allen W. Johnson, Timothy Earle

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804740326
Publisher:	Stanford University Press
Publication date:	12/01/2000
Edition description:	2
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

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

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

Editorial Reviews

By combining an original thesis and a representative body of ethnographic data, this 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 Johnson (anthropology and psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles) and Earle (anthropology, Northwestern University) explain in terms of political economy. In this new edition, the authors have re-written the theoretical argument, updated the case materials, and added a chapter applying their perspective to social changes since the industrial revolution. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"Johnson and Earle show in masterly detail how societies articulate to their environments and . . . how they evolve."—Ethnohistory

From the Publisher

"Johnson and Earle show in masterly detail how societies articulate to their environments and . . . how they evolve."

Ethnohistory