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Evolutionary theory in sociology: An examination of current thinking

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Sociological Forum

Abstract

After long neglect, evolutionary thinking is receiving new emphasis in the social sciences. Although evolutionary theories in biology are complex, changing, and often controversial, the basic concepts of variation, selection, and transmission potentially have powerful applications in sociology. In such uses, a crucial distinction must be made between developmental processes and evolutionary processes. Two main approaches characterize current evolutionary thinking in sociology: sociobiological explanations, and coevolutionary accounts of the interaction of genes and culture. Evolution through natural selection can occur with genes, cultural elements, and any other self-replicating codes. Although social learning is the cultural analogue of genetic transmission, cultural evolution does not necessarily maximize genetic fitness. Newly emerging sociological theories of evolution hold promise of integrating micro- and macroprocesses, providing explanations of complexity and diversity in social change, reconciling ideas of agency and structure, and linking sociology to biology without misleading reductionism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern Virginia Survey Research Laboratory, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University, 22030, Fairfax, Virginia

    Thomas Dietz

  2. Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Sociology, George Mason University, 22030, Fairfax, Virginia

    Tom R. Burns

  3. Sociologiska Institutionen, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Tom R. Burns

  4. Department of Rural Sociology and Program on Science, Technology and Society, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, New York

    Federick H. Buttel

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  1. Thomas Dietz
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  2. Tom R. Burns
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  3. Federick H. Buttel
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Dietz, T., Burns, T.R. & Buttel, F.H. Evolutionary theory in sociology: An examination of current thinking. Sociol Forum 5, 155–171 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01112590

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