Social Evolution (Debates in Archaeology)
Social Evolution by Mark Pluciennik, published by Bristol Classical Press on May 27, 2005, explores the concept of social evolution as it has developed over the past 250 years. This 156-page work delves into how social evolution has influenced academic, political, and public thought, particularly in relation to hunter-gatherer societies, farming communities, and state societies. Pluciennik critically examines the assumptions surrounding social evolution and its perceived connection to progress, challenging readers to reconsider these ideas through a historical and comparative lens.
In this edition, readers will find a thorough analysis of the implications of social evolution, including its ties to ideologies such as emancipation, racism, colonialism, and imperialism. Pluciennik advocates for a critical perspective that opens up alternative ways of understanding history and prompts new inquiries into the dynamics of change within human societies. This book presents a nuanced approach to social evolution, encouraging a deeper examination of its complexities and the varied narratives that shape our understanding of social development.
Official synopsis Publisher
The concept of social evolution in its modern form became widespread 250 years ago as part of the Enlightenment, and yet it still structures the thinking of academics, politicians and the public in a myriad ways. Hunter-gatherers become the repository of the natural or primitive; civilisation and ‘our’ history is deemed to begin with farming societies; and state societies are seen as the only gateway to social complexity. Through a historical and comparative review, this book challenges the idea that social evolution and the inevitability of progress is self-evident, and examines the connections of progressive social evolution with various ideologies and projects, from emancipation to racism, colonialism and imperialism and contemporary ideas of the new world order. Mark Pluciennik suggests that taking a critical stance allows other ways of thinking about and writing history to come into better focus, enabling us to ask different kinds of questions about the nature of change in human societies, and to treat social evolution in a more nuanced way.
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