Research Catalog

The evolution of human co-operation : ritual and social complexity in stateless societies

Title
The evolution of human co-operation : ritual and social complexity in stateless societies / Charles Stanish (University of California, Los Angeles, Santa Fe Institute, Sante Fe, New Mexico).
Author
Stanish, Charles, 1956-
Publication
  • Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, 2017.
  • ©2017

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StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextUse in library JFE 18-223Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
xiii, 336 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm
Summary
"How do people living in small groups without money, markets, police and rigid social classes develop norms of economic and social cooperation that are sustainable over time? This book addresses this fundamental question and explains the origin, structure and spread of stateless societies. Using insights from game theory, ethnography and archaeology, Stanish shows how ritual - broadly defined - is the key. Ritual practices encode elaborate rules of behavior and are ingenious mechanisms of organizing society in the absence of coercive states. As well as asking why and how people choose to co-operate, Stanish also provides the theoretical framework to understand this collective action problem. He goes on to highlight the evolution of cooperation with ethnographic and archaeological data from around of the world. Merging evolutionary game theory concepts with cultural evolutionary theory, this book will appeal to those seeking a transdisciplinary approach to one of the greatest problems in human evolution."--Back cover.
Alternative Title
Evolution of human cooperation
Subject
  • Cooperation
  • Economic anthropology
  • Social evolution
  • Social groups
  • Entwicklung
  • Gemeinschaft
  • Gesellschaft
  • Kooperation
  • Staatenlosigkeit
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages 276-323) and index.
Contents
The evolution of human co-operation -- Economic anthropology of stateless societies: the rise and fall of homo economicus -- Conditional cooperators: the evolutionary game theory revolution -- The role of coercion in social theory -- The ritualized economy: how people in stateless societies co-operate -- An anthropological game theory model for the evolution of ritualized economies -- The evolution of ritualized economies: the archaeological evidence -- Epilogue: "no beans, no Jesus".
Call Number
JFE 18-223
ISBN
  • 9781107180550
  • 1107180554
LCCN
2017002139
OCLC
985966575
Author
Stanish, Charles, 1956- author.
Title
The evolution of human co-operation : ritual and social complexity in stateless societies / Charles Stanish (University of California, Los Angeles, Santa Fe Institute, Sante Fe, New Mexico).
Publisher
Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Copyright Date
©2017
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 276-323) and index.
Research Call Number
JFE 18-223
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