Ecology and Society in a Neoliberal Era, 1980–2010

Game theory showed ways that individual-level evolution could lead to human cooperation. Climate studies showed past fluctuations and current dangers in climate; ecological studies showed complex interaction among species; genetics confirmed the African origin of humanity. As theories sharpened, debates about “reductionism” raged across the sciences. Cultural evolution arose to propose a “dual inheritance” linking biological ancestry preserved in DNA to social learning preserved in brains. Other studies debated changing brain size, origins of language, non-verbal communication, size of human groups, and changing levels of human violence. Political economy of World-Systems developed multidisciplinary theory and data to pursue interaction in networks of polities and economies. World history publication began, addressing long-term patterns in human history (115).