This superb work brings an interdisciplinary approach to what is arguably the central question in the study of human social evolution: how did the simple hunting and foraging bands of the Upper Palaeolithic evolve into the institutionally complex societies of the so-called Neolithic Revolution? The contributors are leading experts from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and game theory, all of whom share a common evolutionary perspective.

These essays offer penetrating insights into the events and controversies that have dominated the news agenda for the last two years. The Hutton and Butler reports lifted the lid on the most intimate working of those who strive to convert information into a weapon - whether they be a Prime Minister in Downing Street, an MI6 agent in the field, an intelligence analyst in Whitehall, or a journalist attempting to fuse fragments into hard copy. The British Academy has brought together a distinguished group of scholars and practitioners to probe the deeper themes at play in the rush of events and...

In this first volume of a projected trilogy, the author argues that a methodology adequate to solve the long-standing debate over the status of the social as against the natural sciences can be constructed in terms of a fourhold distinction between the reportage, explanation, description and evaluation of human behaviour. The distinction rests on an analysis of the scope and nature of social theory which is not only original in conception but far-reaching in its implications for the assessment of the results of sociological, anthropological and historical research. In this volume, there are...

This second of three volumes sets out a general account of the structure and evolution of human societies. The author argues first that societies are to be defined as sets of roles whose incumbents are competitors for access to, or control of, the means of production, persuasion and coercion; and second, that the process by which societies evolve is one of competitive selection of the practices by which roles are defined analagous, but not reducible, to natural selection. He illustrates and tests these theses with evidence drawn from the whole range of societies documented in the historical...

The concluding volume of W.G. Runciman's trilogy on social theory applies his theory and methodology to the case of twentieth-century English society. He shows how England's capitalist mode of production, liberal mode of persuasion, and democratic mode of coercion evolved in the aftermath of World War I from what they had been since the 1880s, yet did not evolve significantly following World War II. His explanation demonstrates that some economic, ideological and political practices were favored over others in an increasingly complex environment, neither predictable nor controllable by...

Runciman's attempt to correct Weber's mistakes is a valuable contribution to the philosophy of social science.

These eleven essays look at the current state of sociology in Britain from a number of intriguing perspectives. How important is it for British sociologists to be aware of the historical development of their subject in this country? How is British sociology seen by British scholars working in related fields, such as social history, social anthropology and demography? And how are British sociologists perceived by their colleagues working abroad, in particular in continental Europe? A concluding essay by the President of the British Sociological Association identifies the recurring themes in...

In The Theory of Cultural and Social Selection, W. G. Runciman presents an original and wide-ranging account of the fundamental process by which human cultures and societies come to be of the different kinds that they are. Drawing on and extending recent advances in neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory, Runciman argues that collective human behaviour should be analyzed as the acting-out of information transmitted at the three separate but interacting levels of heritable variation and competitive selection - the biological, the cultural, and the social. The implications which this carries for a...

This 1969 study considers the relation of sociology to political philosophy and extends traditional political philosophy in the direction of contemporary developments.