Routledge Ecological-Evolutionary Theory: Principles and Applications

For forty years, in a variety of books and articles, Gerhard Lenski has become the most influential proponent of ecological and evolutionary explanations of human societies, their development and transformations, from the Stone Age to the present. In his newest book, Lenski offers a succinct but comprehensive statement of the full body of his theory followed by demonstration of how it can be used to generate new and valuable insights when applied to a set of highly diverse issues. These include debates concerning the origin of ancient Israel and its distinctive culture, the rise of the West in the modern era, the highly varied trajectories of development of Third World nations in recent decades, and the failure of Marxist efforts to transform society in the Soviet Union and elsewhere. In the concluding chapter, Lenski discusses a number of other issues and areas where ecological-evolutionary theory may be fruitfully applied in the future. Review "'Lenski develops a highly refined and nuanced model of society dynamics that incorporates his previous thinking into a new approach. This book must be read not only by those interested in evolution, but all those who seek to explain macrodynamics. This book is a cutting edge analytical model and theory of macro social reality.' Jonathan H. Turner, author of Face to Face: Toward a Sociological Theory of Interpersonal Behavior 'Lenski's masterful integration of empirical data from biology, ecology, the social sciences, and technology provides by far the best theoretical underpinning available for a macro-level approach to the comparison of total societies.' Joan Huber, Ohio State University" About the Author Gerhard Lenski, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, is the author of Power and Privilege and The Religious Factor. He is a recent recipient of the ASA Distinguished Career Award.