Modern theories of human evolution foreshadowed by Darwin’s Descent of Man

Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 372 (6544) ◽  
pp. eaba3776
Author(s):  
Peter J. Richerson ◽  
Sergey Gavrilets ◽  
Frans B. M. de Waal

Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man, published 150 years ago, laid the grounds for scientific studies into human origins and evolution. Three of his insights have been reinforced by modern science. The first is that we share many characteristics (genetic, developmental, physiological, morphological, cognitive, and psychological) with our closest relatives, the anthropoid apes. The second is that humans have a talent for high-level cooperation reinforced by morality and social norms. The third is that we have greatly expanded the social learning capacity that we see already in other primates. Darwin’s emphasis on the role of culture deserves special attention because during an increasingly unstable Pleistocene environment, cultural accumulation allowed changes in life history; increased cognition; and the appearance of language, social norms, and institutions.

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Kelly

This article uses the concepts of ‘transnational social fields’ and ‘habitus’ to explore the multifaceted role families play in shaping the aspirations of onward migrating youth. The article draws on biographical life history interviews conducted with the children of Iranian migrants who were raised in Sweden but moved to London, UK as adults. The findings of the study suggest that from a young age, all the participants were pressured by their parents to perform well academically, and to achieve high level careers. These goals were easier to achieve in London than in Sweden for several reasons. Interestingly, however, participants’ understandings of what constituted success and their motivations for onward migration were nuanced and varied considerably by gender. The study contributes to an understanding of the role of multi-sited transnational social fields in shaping the aspirations of migrant youths, as well as the strategies taken up by these migrants to achieve their goals.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Elizabete David Novaes

<p><strong>Resumo:</strong> O presente artigo busca evidenciar o papel social das mulheres nos movimentos sociais promovidos no decorrer da história. Para cumprir com tal propósito, discute o caráter patriarcal da ciência cartesiana; apresenta uma reflexão acerca da articulação entre o público e privado; elabora uma revisão teórica acerca da historiografia da mulher, ressaltando a ação da mulher em diferentes momentos da história, buscando evidenciá-la como sujeito ativo, capaz de integrar o público e o privado, participando da conquista de direitos. Para enfatizar as articulações existentes entre as dimensões pública e privada, este artigo defende que historicamente a mulher politiza vias não políticas do cotidiano, atuando em movimentos sociais promotores de reivindicações e manifestações sociais, de modo a superar limites ideologicamente traçados pelo viés patriarcal da ciência moderna, de base cartesiana, atuando na luta por direitos e participação política na história.</p><p><strong>Palavras-chave:</strong> gênero; historiografia; público e privado; movimentos sociais; direitos.</p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> This paper describes evidences of the social role of the women inside different social movements occurred during our history. It began with a discussion the patriarchal character of Cartesian science, presents reflections about the public and private articulation, a theoretical review of the women´s historiography, emphasizing their action at different times in history and trying to emphazise them as active subject which is capable to integrate the public and private, participating of the conquer their rights. To emphasize all the previous articulations between the public and private dimensions, this manuscript argues that historically women politicize daily non-political pathways. Their actuations in social movements promote the demands and social manifestations in order to ideologically overcome the limitations set by the the patriarchal bias of modern science, acting in the the fight (ou struggle) for rights and political participation in history.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> gender, historiography, public and private; social movement; rights.</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 205-225
Author(s):  
Arkady Lyubarev

Correlation coefficients between the results of political parties in the 2016 State Duma elections in the Russian Federation as a whole and in 26 regions, as well as in the elections of regional parliaments of 35 subjects of the Russian Federation in 2012–2015 were calculated. For the 2016 State Duma elections, data was used at all levels – regions, single-member electoral districts, TEC and PEC. It is noted that the “United Russia” correlations with all major parties are generally negative. A fairly high level of correlation is observed between the liberal parties. The main focus is on correlations between parliamentary opposition parties and parties with similar names. The correlation coefficients between the results of parties and candidates in the State Duma elections of 2011 and 2016 and the Presidential elections of 2012 and 2018 were also calculated, showing the stability of the geographical distribution of the electorate of the main parties. Regional differences in the nature of correlations between the main political parties are noted. It is assumed that correlations between parties reflect not so much their ideological closeness as the social closeness of their electorate. In this regard, it is noted that a positive correlation between the results of ideologically distant parties (“Yabloko” and the Communist party or “Yabloko” and “Rodina”) is associated with their reliance on the urban electorate and, perhaps, its most educated part. The reasons for voting for spoiler parties and the role of these parties in reducing the results of the main participants in the elections are discussed.


Author(s):  
Michael P. Roller

The conclusion revisits the three major inquiries addressed in the text, drawing together the evidence and contexts provided in the previous seven chapters. The first investigates the role of objective settings, such as the systemic and symbolic violence of landscapes and semiotic systems of racialization in justifying or triggering moments of explicit subjective violence such as the Lattimer Massacre. The second inquiry, traces the trajectory of immigrant groups into contemporary patriotic neoliberal subjects. In other terms, it asks how an oppressed group can become complicit with oppression later in history. The third inquiry traces the development of soft forms of social control and coercion across the longue durée of the twentieth century. Specifically, it asks how vertically integrated economic and governmental structures such as neoliberalism and governmentality which serve to stabilize the social antagonisms of the past are enunciated in everyday life.


2020 ◽  
pp. 61-102
Author(s):  
Alex Belsey ◽  
Alex Belsey

This chapter analyses how, in his wartime journal-writing, Keith Vaughan articulated the social differences and exclusions that he believed were preventing him from fully participating in British society. In his accounts of failing to connect with those around him, he romanticized his failures and dramatized his distance from others, thereby justifying his exclusion and ultimately ascribing himself the powerful (if lonely) role of observer – a position from which he could assert superiority over his fellow C.O.s and men of lower social class whilst representing them in his sketches, paintings, and bathing pictures. The first section of this chapter considers how Vaughan used the early volumes of his journal to record his difficulties in making contact with his fellow man and reinforce them through self-dramatization. The second section explores the strategies employed by Vaughan to emphasize his difference from other individuals and groups, particularly around his homosexuality and artistic inclinations, and therefore justify and maintain his distance from them. The third section argues that Vaughan constructed an empowering role that made use of his remove from male society: that of the observer, enabling him to laud his own powers of perception whilst evading the problems of social involvement and possible surveillance.


2016 ◽  
pp. 170-183
Author(s):  
Amir Bagherian ◽  
Yosef Ebrahimi Nasaband ◽  
Hassan Heidari ◽  
Mahmoud Ebrahimi

Data explosion, in the present era, has created a lot of changes in the social, economic and cultural relationships of all developed societies. Modern areas usually do not have the required legitimacy; however it does not mean that the way for all kinds of violation is open. Social life requires that order and security also govern these areas and protect ethics and public interests. Electronic commerce law is one of these areas a debatable area filled with innovations and surprises. In this regard, waves of internet revolution and the explosion of e-commerce collide with the legal system and influence the concepts of traditional law. One of the key achievements of information technology is changes in traditional regime of evidence claim. In the system of evidence claim in the majority of countries, written reasons and documents are of undeniable importance, in a way that they are mostly used as citation or to defend the Lawsuit. In fact, a lawsuit and adducing the evidence in our legal life largely depend on delivering or issuance of a written paper such as ID cards, pay stubs, payment receipts, contracts, declarations, warnings, statements, and or commercial documents.


2017 ◽  
pp. 570-584
Author(s):  
Ángel Belzunegui ◽  
Amaya Erro-Garcés ◽  
Inma Pastor

This article discusses the role of the telework as an organizational innovation incorporated to the activities of the third sector as well as in the creation of networks and links between these entities. The telework has become a tool that has produced important changes in the traditional organization of the work, and has improved the inter- and intra-organizational communication, in addition to promoting the creation of extensive networks of collaboration in the third sector. The online connection and the provision made in telework mode have also served for the creation of a higher density of contacts between the entities that are grouped in the third sector, done so that it benefits the transmission of information and collaborative practices in providing services to the citizens. Its effectiveness consists in the speed that prints the response capacity of the social economy entities.


Author(s):  
Stephen M. Garcia ◽  
Zachary A. Reese ◽  
Avishalom Tor

This chapter provides an overview of the interplay between social comparison and competition before, during, and after the competition. Competition is defined broadly to include an act or process of competition, explicit or implicit, linked to basic social comparison processes. Before the competition, the authors consider the lessons of the social comparison literature on motives, individual differences, cultural and social norms, and competition entry decisions. The authors then review relevant findings on the role of individual factors (personal and relational) as well as situational factors that affect motivation and competitive behavior during the competition. Finally, the chapter examines the social comparison literature on downward comparison, upward comparison, and competition re-entry decisions after the competition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (12) ◽  
pp. 3935-3946
Author(s):  
Shih-Tse Edward Wang ◽  
Yu-Ting Liao

PurposeAlthough the association between social norms and alcohol dependence has been noted, how social norms cause alcohol dependence remains unclear. This study thus investigated how social norms affect the perceived benefits of drinking and alcohol identity, which in turn affect alcohol dependence.Design/methodology/approachConvenience sampling was used, and 452 valid questionnaires were collected from alcohol (specifically, beer) consumers over the age of 18; answers were analyzed through structural equation modeling.FindingsSocial norms positively affected the perceived benefits of drinking and alcohol identity; alcohol identity positively affected alcohol dependence; moreover, alcohol identity fully mediated the effects of social norms and the perceived benefits of drinking on alcohol dependence.Originality/valueHow social norms affect alcohol dependence has rarely been studied; thus, the present study has value for integrating the findings in the lines of research on social norms and alcohol dependence. Based on the study results, the authors recommend that policies aimed at discouraging alcohol dependence should focus on mitigating the social pressure to drink and the perceived benefits of drinking as well as labeling others as drinkers.


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