Unilineal evolution also reffered to as the classical social evolution(ism) is a 19th century social theory about the evolution of societies and cultures. It was composed of many competing theories by various socilogists and anthropologists, who belived that Western culture is the contemporary pinnacle of social evolution. This theory is now considered obolete, replaced by multilineal evolution. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... This page needs attention and peer review. ... Cultural evolution is the structural development (change) of a society over time. ... Look up Culture in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikinews has a related story: Culture and entertainment Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cultural Development in Antiquity Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Culture and Civilization in Modern Times Classificatory system for cultures and civilizations, by Dr. Sam Vaknin Categories: Culture... Leonardo da Vincis Vitruvian Man, for many a symbol of the changes of the Western culture during the Renaissance Western culture refers to the culture that has developed in the Western world. ... Multilineal evolution is a 20th century social theory about the evolution of societies and cultures. ...

The historical context and birth of classical social evolutionism

Theories of social and cultural evolution are common in modern European thought. Prior to the 18th century, Europeans predominantly believed that societies on Earth were in a state of decline. European society held up the world of antiquity as a standard to aspire to, and Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome produced levels of technical accomplishment which Europeans of the Middle Ages sought to emulate. At the same time, Christianity taught that people lived in a debased world fundamentally inferior to the Garden of Eden and Heaven. During the The Age of Enlightenment, however, European self-confidence grew and the notion of progress became increasingly popular. It was during this period that what would later become known as 'sociological and cultural evolution' would have its roots. Cultural evolution is the structural change of a society and its values over time. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Earth, also known as the Earth, Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third planet outward from the Sun. ... Antiquity means ancient times, and may be used of any period before the Middle Ages. ... Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ... This article is about the Biblical location. ... The heavens are the sky, the celestial sphere, or outer space. ... The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a larger period which includes the Age of Reason. ... Progress can refer to: The idea of a process in which societies or individuals become better or more modern (technologically and/or socially). ...

The Enlightenment thinkers often speculated that societies progressed through stages of increasing development and looked for the logic, order and the set of scientific truths that determined the course of human history. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, for example, argued that social development was an inevitible and determined process, similar to an acorn which has no choice but to become an oak tree. Likewise, it was assumed that societies start out primitive, perhaps in a Hobbesian state of nature, and naturally progress toward something resembling industrial Europe. For the period in European history, The Age of Enlightenment For the corresponding movement in the European Jewish community, see Haskalah. ... Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, but coming to mean thought or reason) is most often said to be the study of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy amongst philosophers (see below). ... History is often used as a generic term for information about the past, such as in geologic history of the Earth. When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and interpretation of the record of human societies. ... G.W.F. Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770 - November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ... Thomas Hobbes portrait by John Michael Wright (National Portrait Gallery, London) Thomas Hobbes (April 5, 1588–December 4, 1679) was a noted English political philosopher, most famous for his book Leviathan (1651). ... State of nature is a term in political philosophy used to describe the hypothetical or empirical condition of humanity when or if government did not exist. ...

While earlier authors such as Michel de Montaigne discussed how societies change through time, it was truly the Scottish Enlightenment which proved key in the development of cultural evolution. After Scotland's union with England in 1707, several Scottish thinkers pondered what the relationship between progress and the 'decadence' brought about by increased trade with England and the affluence it produced. The result was a series of 'conjectural histories.' Authors such as Adam Ferguson, John Millar, and Adam Smith argued that all societies pass through a series of four stages: hunting and gathering, pastoralism and nomadism, agricultural, and finally a stage of commerce. These thinkers thus understood the changes Scotland was undergoing as a transition from an agricultural to a mercantile society. Michel de Montaigne Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592) was an influential French Renaissance writer, generally considered to be the inventor of the personal essay. ... The Scottish Enlightenment was a period of intellectual ferment in Scotland, running from approximately 1740 to 1800. ... The Acts of Union were twin Acts of Parliament passed in 1707 (taking effect on 26 March) in the Scottish and the English Parliaments. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... Adam Ferguson (June 20, 1723 – February 22, 1816), philosopher, proto-sociologist and historian in the Scottish Enlightenment, was born at Logierait in Perthshire, Scotland. ... Adam Smith Adam Smith, LL.D. , FRS (Baptised June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790) was a Scottish political economist and moral philosopher. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Mercantilism is the economic theory that a nations prosperity depended upon its supply of gold and silver, that the total volume of trade is unchangeable. ...

Philosophical concepts of progress (such as those expounded by the German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel) developed as well during this period. In France authors such as Claude Adrien Helvétius and other philosophes were influenced by this Scottish tradition. Later thinkers such as Comte de Saint-Simon developed these ideas. August Comte in particular presented a coherent view of social progress and a new discipline to study it -- sociology. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770 - November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ... Claude Adrien Helvétius (January 1715 - December 26, 1771) was a French philosopher and litterateur. ... The Philosophes (French for Philosophers) were a group of French thinkers of the 18th century Enlightenment. ... Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon (October 17, 1760 – May 19, 1825), the founder of French socialism, was born in Paris. ... Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 _ September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ... Social interactions of people and their consequences are the subject of sociology studies. ...

These developments took place in a wider context. The first process was colonialism. Although Imperial powers settled most differences of opinion with their colonial subjects with force, increased awareness of non-Western peoples raised new questions for European scholars about the nature of society and culture. Similarly, effective administration required some degree of understanding of other cultures. Emerging theories of social evolution allowed Europeans to organize their new knowledge in a way that reflected and justified their increasing political and economic domination of others: colonized people were less-evolved, colonizing people were more evolved. The second process was the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism which allowed and promoted continual revolutions in the means of production. Emerging theories of social evolution reflected a belief that the changes in Europe wrought by the Industrial Revolution and capitalism were obvious improvements. Industrialization, combined with the intense political change brought about by the French Revolution, US Constitution and Polish Constitution of the 3rd May, which were paving the way for the dominance of democracy, forced European thinkers to reconsider some of their assumptions about how society was organized. World map of colonialism circa 1945. ... Wiktionary has a definition of: Administration Organisational use In some organisational analyses, administration can refer to the bureaucratic or operational performance of mundane office tasks, usually internally oriented. ... The Industrial Revolution was the major technological, socioeconomic and cultural change in the late 18th and early 19th century resulting from the replacement of an economy based on manual labor to one dominated by industry and machine manufacture. ... Capitalism has been defined in various ways (see Capitalism in Wikiquote). ... // General Means of production generally refers to productive assets which are inputs in a production process. ... The period of the French Revolution is very important in the history of France and the world. ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America and is... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Liberal democracy History of democracy Referenda Representative democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by ideology...

Eventually, in the 19th century three great, classical theories of social and historical change were created: the social evolutionism theory, the social cycle theory and the Marxist historical materialism theory. Those theories had one common factor: they all agreed that the history of humanity is pursuing a certain fixed path, most likely that of the social progress. Thus, each past event is not only chronologicaly, but casualy tied to the the present and future events. Those theory postulated that by recreating the sequence of those events, sociology could discover the Laws of history. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Social cycle theory is one of the earliest social theories in sociology. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... Historical materialism (or what Marx himself preferred to call the materialist conception of history - materialistischen Geschichtsaufassung) is a social theory and an approach to the study of history and sociology, normally considered as the intellectual basis of Marxism. ... Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ...

Era of unilineal classical evolutionism

While social evolutionists agree that the evolution-like process leads to the social progress, classical social evolutionists have develpoed many different theories, known as theories of unilineal evolution. Social evolutionism was the prevailing theory of early socio-cultural anthropology and social commentary, and is associated with scholars like August Comte, Edward Burnett Tylor, Lewis Henry Morgan, and Herbert Spencer. Social evoultionism represented an attempt to formalize social thinking along scientific lines, later influenced by the biological theory of evolution. If organisms could develop over time according to discernable, deterministic laws, then it seemed reasonable that societies could as well. This really marks the beginning of Anthropology as a scientific discipline and a departure from traditional religious views of "primitive" cultures. Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ... Social commentary is the act of sharing ones opinion on the nature of a society to another person. ... Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 _ September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ... Edward Burnett Tylor. ... Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) was an American lawyer and amateur scholar best known for his work on cultural evolution and Native Americans. ... Herbert Spencer. ... Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution by natural selection. ...

The term "Classical Social Evolutionism" is most closely associated with the 19th century writings of Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer (who coined the phrase "survival of the fittest") and William Graham Sumner. In many ways Spencer's theory of 'cosmic evolution' has much more in common with the works of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and August Comte than with contemporary works of Charles Darwin. Spencer also developed and published his theories several years earlier then Darwin. In regards to social institutions, however, there is a good case that Spencer's writings might be classified as 'Social Evolutionism'. Although he wrote that societies over time progressed, and that progress was accomplished through competition, he stressed that the individual (rather than the collectivity) is the unit of analysis that evolves, that evolution takes place through natural selection and that it affects social as well as biological phenomenon. Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 - September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ... Herbert Spencer. ... Herbert Spencer coined the phrase survival of the fittest Survival of the fittest is a phrase which is a shorthand for a concept relating to competition for survival or predominance. ... William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) was the leading American advocate of Social Darwinism. ... Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck (August 1, 1744 - December 28, 1829) was a major 19th century French naturalist, who was one of the first to use the term biology in its modern sense. ... Charles Darwin in 1854, five years prior to the publication of The Origin of Species Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809–19 April 1882) was a British naturalist who achieved lasting fame as originator of the theory of evolution through natural selection. ... In metaphysics and statistics, the word individual, while sometimes meaning a person, more typically describes any numerically singular thing. ...

Both Spencer and Comte view the society as a kind of organism subject to the process of growth - from simplicity to complexity, from chaos to order, from generalisation to specialisation, from flexibility to organisation. They agreed that the process of societies growth can be divided into certain stages, have their beginning and eventual end, and that this growth is in fact social progress - each newer, more evolved society is better. Thus progressivism became one of the basic ideas underlying the theory of social evolutionism. In biology growth is increase in size. ... Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ... Progressivism or political progressivism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ...

August Comte, known as father of sociology, formulated the law of three stages: human development progresses from the theological stage, in which nature was mythically conceived and man sought the explanation of natural phenomena from supernatural beings, through metaphysical stage in which nature was conceived of as a result of obscure forces and man sought the explanation of natural phenomena from them until the final positive stage in which all abstract and obscure forces are discarded, and natural phenomena are explained by their constant relationship. This progress is forced through the development of human mind, and increasing application of thought, reasoning and logic to the understanding of world. Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 _ September 5, 1857) was a positivist thinker and a founder of the discipline of sociology. ... Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It also refers to the study of other religious topics. ... // Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ... Positivism can have several meanings. ...

Herbert Spencer, who believed that society was evolving toward increasing freedom for individuals; and so held that government intervention, ought to be minimal in social and political life, differentiated between two phases of development, focusing is on the type of internal regulation within societies. Thus he differentiated between military and industrial societies. The earlier, more primitive military society has a goal of conquest and defence, is centralised, economically self-sufficient, collectivistic, puts the good of a group over the good of an individual, uses compulsion, force and repression, rewards loyalty, obedience and discipline. The industrial society has a goal of production and trade, is decentralised, interconneted with other societies via economic relations, achievies its goals through voluntary cooperation and individual self-restrain, treats the good of individual as the highest value, regulates the social life via voluntary relations, values innitiative, independence and innovation. A conquest is the act of conquering a foreign land, usually for its assimilation into a larger federation or empire. ... The words defense or defence can refer to any of the following: For defense of a doctoral dissertation see thesis committee For the military term see defense (military) Civil defense measures and emergency preparedness In politics, defense may be a euphemism for war For legal defense see defense (legal) For... Centralization is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding decision-making, become concentrated within a particular location and/or group. ... The word economy can refer to any of several things: The economy of the world — see world economy The economy of a country — see economics and economic system Economy is financial soundness or affordability. ... A collective is a group of people who share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. ... A fruit stand at a market. ... Decentralisation (or decentralization) is any of various means of more widely distributing decision-making to bring it closer to the point of service or action. ...

Regardless of how scholars of Spencer interpret his relation to Darwin, Spencer proved to be an incredibly popular figure in the 1870s, particularly in the United States. Authors such as Edward Youmans, William Graham Sumner, John Fiske, John W. Burgess, Lester Frank Ward, Lewis H. Morgan and other thinkers of the gilded age all developed theories of social evolutionism as a result of their exposure to Spencer as well as Darwin. Events and Trends Technology The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ... William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) was the leading American advocate of Social Darwinism. ... John Fiske (1842–1901), born Edmund Fisk Green, was an American philosopher and historian. ... Lester Frank Ward (June 18, 1841 in Joliet, Illinois - April 18, 1913 in Washington, D.C.), one of the first American sociologists. ... Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) is considered to be the Father of American Anthropology, although his professional life was in the field of law. ... The term Gilded Age refers to the political and economic nature situation of the United States from approximately 1876-1900. ...

Lewis H. Morgan, an anthropologist whose ideas have had much impact on sociology, in his 1877 classic "Ancient Societies" differentiated between three eras: savagery, barbarism and civilisation, which are divided by technological inventions, like fire, bow, pottery in savage era, domestication of animals, agriculture, metalworking in barbarian era and alphabet and writing in civilisation era. Thus Morgan introduced a link between the social progress and technological progress. Morgan viewed the technological progress as a force behinds the social progress, and any social change - in social institutions, organisations or ideologies have their begining in the change of technology. Morgan's theories were popularised by Friedrich Engels, who based his famous work "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State" on it. For Engels and other marxists, this theory was important as it supported their conviction that materialistic factors - economical and technological - are decisive in shaping the fate of humanity. Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ... 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Savage has various meanings. ... A barbarism is a word or expression that is not standard in a language. ... For other uses, see Civilization (disambiguation). ... A large bonfire Fire is a form of combustion. ... The word bow has several meanings and two pronunciations, depending on meaning: Rhymes with low A kind of weapon; see bow (weapon). ... A man shapes pottery as it turns on a wheel. ... Domesticated animals, plants, and other organisms are those whose collective behavior, life cycle, or physiology has been altered as a result of their breeding and living conditions being under human control for multiple generations. ... Metalworking is the craft and practice of working with metals to create parts or structures. ... An alphabet is a complete standardized set of letters — basic written symbols — each of which roughly represents a phoneme of a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it may have been in the past. ... Writing may refer to two activities: the inscribing characters on a medium, with the intention of forming words and other lingual constructs that represent language and record information, or the creation of information to be conveyed through written language. ... Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ... Origins of theory According to Czech philosopher Radovan Richta, in his 1967 publication “Man and Technology in the Revolution of Our Day”, technology (which he defines as “a material entity created by the application of mental and physical effort to nature in order to achieve some value”) evolves in three... Social change refers to acts of advocacy for the cause of changing society in a positive way. ... A social institution is any institution in a socity that works to socialize the groups or people in it. ... Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels (November 28, 1820–August 5, 1895) was a 19th-century German political philosopher. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ...

Emile Durkheim, another of the 'fathers' of sociology, has developed a similar, dichtomical view of social progress. His key concept was social solidarity, as he defined the social evolution in terms of progressing from mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity. In mechanical solidarity, people are self-sufficient, there is little integration and thus there is the need for use of force and repression to keep society together. In organic solidarity, people are much more integrated and interdependent and specialisation and cooperation is extensive. Progress from mechanical to organic solidarity is based first on population growth and increasing population density, second on increasing 'morality density' (development of more complex social interactions) and thirdly, on the increasing specialisation in workplace. To Durkheim, the most important factor in the social progress is the division of labor. David Émile Durkheim (April 15, 1858 - November 15, 1917) is known as the founder of modern sociology. ... A dichotomy is a division into two non-overlapping or mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive parts. ... Humanitism is a philosophy born in academic circles from efforts in dialogue & universalism and in the minds of the populus at the close of the 2nd Millennium CE rather than one that can be ascribed to any one individual. ... Solidarity in sociology refers to the feeling or condition of unity based on common goals, interests, and sympathies among a groups members. ... Solidarity in sociology refers to the feeling or condition of unity based on common goals, interests, and sympathies among a groups members. ... Population growth is changing of the amount of population over time. ... Interaction is a kind of action which occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. ... Division of labour is the breakdown of labour into specific, circumscribed tasks for maximum efficiency of output in the context of manufacturing. ...

Anthropologists Sir E.B. Tylor in England and Lewis Henry Morgan in the United States worked with data from indigenous people, whom they claimed represented earlier stages of cultural evolution that gave insight into the process and progression of cultural evolution Morgan would later have a significant influence on Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who developed a theory of cultural evolution in which the internal contradictions in society created a series of escalating stages that ended in a socialist society (see Marxism). Tylor and Morgan elaborated the theory of unilinear evolution, specifying criteria for categorizing cultures according to their standing within a fixed system of growth of humanity as a whole and examining the modes and mechanisms of this growth. Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ... Edward Burnett Tylor. ... Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) was an American lawyer and amateur scholar best known for his work on cultural evolution and Native Americans. ... Indigenous peoples are: Peoples living in an area prior to colonization by a state Peoples living in an area within a nation-state, prior to the formation of a nation-state, but who do not identify with the dominant nation. ... Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 Trier, Germany – March 14, 1883 London, UK) was an influential German philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary organizer of the International Workingmens Association, whose two books in particular, Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto (the latter with Friedrich Engels), laid the foundations... Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels (November 28, 1820–August 5, 1895) was a 19th-century German political philosopher. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ...

Their analysis of cross-cultural data was based on three assumptions:

1. contemporary societies may be classified and ranked as more "primitive" or more "civilized;"
2. There are a determinate number of stages between "primitive" and "civilized" (e.g. band, tribe, chiefdom, and state),
3. All societies progress through these stages in the same sequence, but at different rates.

Theorists usually measured progression (that is, the difference between one stage and the next) in terms of increasing social complexity (including class differentiation and a complex division of labor), or an increase in intellectual, theological, and aesthetic sophistication. These 19th century ethnologists used these principles primarily to explain differences in religious beliefs and kinship terminologies among various societies. A band society is the simplest form of human society. ... Viewed historically or developmentally, a tribe consists of a social formation existing before the development of, or outside of, states. ... A chiefdom is any community led by an individual known as a chief. ... A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government, and possessing internal and external sovereignty. ... Ethnology (greek ethnos: (non-greek, barbarian) people) is a genre of anthropological study, involving the systematic comparison of the folklore, beliefs and practices of different societies. ...

There were however notable differences bewteen Ward's and Tylor's approaches. Lester Frank Ward developed Spencer's theory but unlike Spencer, who considered the evolution to be general process applicable to the entire world, physical and sociological, Ward differentatied sociological evolution from biological evolution. He stressed that humans create goals for themselves and strive to realise them, whereas there is no such intelligence and awarness guiding the non-human world, which develops more or less at random. He created a hierarchy of evolution processes. First, there is cosmogenesis, creation and evolution of the world. Then, after life develops, there is biogenesis. Development of humanity leads to anthropogenesis, which is influenced by the human mind. Finally, when society develops, so does sociogenesis, which is the science of shaping the society to fit with various political, cultural and ideological goals. Lester Frank Ward (June 18, 1841 in Joliet, Illinois - April 18, 1913 in Washington, D.C.), one of the first American sociologists. ... Biogenesis is the process of lifeforms producing other lifeforms, e. ... The mind is the term most commonly used to describe the higher functions of the human brain, particularly those of which humans are subjectively conscious, such as personality, thought, reason, memory, intelligence and emotion. ... ...

Edward Burnett Tylor, pioneer of anthropology, focused on the evolution of culture world-wide, noting that culture is an important part of every society and that it is also subject to the process of evolution. He believed that societies were at different stages of cultural development and that the purpose of anthropology was to reconstruct the evolution of culture, from primitive beginnings to the modern state. Edward Burnett Tylor. ... Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ...

Ferdinand Toennies describes the evolution as the development from informal society, where people have many liberties and there are few laws and obligations, to modern, formal rational society, dominated by traditions and laws and are restricted from acting as they wish. He also notes that there is a tendency of standardization and unification, when all smaller societies are absorbed into the single, large, modern society. Thus Torbes can be said to describe part of the process known today as the globalisation. Torbes was also one of the first sociologists to claim that the evolution of society is not necessarilrly going in the right direction, that the social progress is not perfect, it can even be called a regress as the newer, more evolved societes are obtained only after paying a high costs, resulting in decrasing satisfaction of individuals making up that society. Tonnies work became the fundation of neo-evolutionism. Ferdinand Tönnies (July 26, 1855, near Oldenswort (Eiderstedt) - April 9, 1936, Kiel, Germany) was a German sociologist. ... Standardization, in the context related to technologies and industries, is the process of establishing a technical standard among competing entities in a market, where this will bring benefits without hurting competition. ... See also: Unification Church Unification can also refer to the German reunification of East and West Germany. ... Globalization is a term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that are the result of dramatically increased trade and cultural exchange. ... Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes this society better. ...

The critique of unilineal evolution and its impact on modern theories

The early 20th century inaugurated a period of systematic critical examination, and rejection of unilineal theories of cultural evolution. Cultural anthropologists such as Franz Boas, typically regarded as the leader of anthropology's rejection of classical social evolutionism, used sophisticated ethnography and more rigorous empirical methods to argue that Spencer, Tylor, and Morgan's theories were speculative and systematically misrepresented ethnographic data. Additionally, they rejected the distinction between "primitive" and "civilized" (or "modern"), pointing out that so-called primitive contemporary societies have just as much history, and were just as evolved, as so-called civilized societies. They therefore argued that that any attempt to use this theory to reconstruct the histories of non-literate (i.e. leaving no historical documents) peoples is entirely speculative and unscientific. They observed that the postulated progression, which typically ended with a stage of civilization identical to that of modern Europe, is ethnocentric. They also pointed out that the theory assumes that societies are clearly bounded and distinct, when in fact cultural traits and forms often cross social boundaries and diffuse among many different societies (and is thus an important mechanism of change). Boas introduced the culture history approach, which concentrated on fieldwork among native peoples to identify actual cultural and historical processes rather than speculative stages of growth (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Cultural anthropology, also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, is one of four commonly recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. ... Franz Boas Franz Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 22, 1942) was one of the pioneers of modern anthropology and is often called the Father of American Anthropology. Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did post-doctoral work in geography. ... Ethnography (from the Greek ethnos = nation and graphein = writing) refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on months or years of fieldwork. ... Ethnocentrism (Greek ethnos (nation + -centrism) or ethnocentricity is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of ones own culture. ... Cultural-history archaeology or simply Culture history is a form of archaeological theory. ...

Later critics observed that this assumption of firmly bounded societies was proposed precisely at the time when European powers were colonizing non-Western societies, and was thus self-serving. Many anthropologists and social theorists now consider unilineal cultural and social evolution a Western myth seldom based on solid empirical grounds. Critical theorists argue that notions of social evolution are simply justifications for power by the elites of society. Finally, the devastating World Wars that occurred between 1914 and 1945 crippled Europe's self-confidence. After millions of deaths, genocide, and the destruction of Europe's industrial infrastructure, the idea of progress seemed dubious at best. For the computer game, see Myth (computer game). ... Sociologists usually define power as the ability to impose ones will on others, even if those others resist in some way. ...

Thus modern socio-cultural evolutionism rejects most of classical social evolutionism due to various theoretical problems:

1. The theory was deeply ethnocentric--it makes heavy value judgements on different societies; with Western civilization seen as the most valuable.
2. It assumed all cultures follow the same path or progression and have the same goals.
3. It equated civilization with material culture (technology, cities, etc.)
4. It equated evolution with progress or fitness, based on deep misunderstandings of evolutionary theory.
5. It is greatly contradicted by evidence. Many (but not all) supposedly primitive societies are arguably more peaceful and equitable / democratic than many modern societies, and tend to be more healthy with regard to diet and ecology.

Because social evolution was posited as a scientific theory, it was often used to support unjust and often racist social practices--particularly colonialism, slavery, and the unequal economic conditions present within industrialized Europe. Social darwinism is especially criticised, as it lead to some philosophies used by the Nazis. Ethnocentrism (Greek ethnos nation + -centrism) is a set of beliefs or practices based on the view that ones own group is the center of everything. ... For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ... A civilization or civilisation has a variety of meanings related to human society. ... In archaeology, culture refers to either of two separate but allied concepts: A material culture comprises physical objects from the past, the study of which is the basis of the discipline. ... Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution by natural selection. ... Progress can refer to: The idea of a process in which societies or individuals become better or more modern (technologically and/or socially). ... Herbert Spencer coined the phrase survival of the fittest Survival of the fittest is a phrase which is a shorthand for a concept relating to competition for survival or predominance. ... This article is about biological evolution. ... Diet can refer to several things: The nutritional diet of an organism or group. ... Ecology is sometimes used as an incorrect synonym for the natural environment. ... An African-American drinks out of a water fountain marked for colored in 1939 at a street car terminal in Oklahoma City. ... World map of colonialism circa 1945. ... A monument celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, erected in Victoria Tower Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, London Look up Slavery in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Slavery is a condition of control over a person against their will, enforced by violence or other forms of coercion. ... World map showing location of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Social Darwinism is a social theory which holds that Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection is not only a model for the development of biological traits in a population, but can also be applied to human social institutions. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ...