SOCL 3101 Chapter : CH 11
Document Summary
Argued that ideas and beliefs evolved in relation to societal transformations. As societies differentiate, they immediately encounter problems of integrating the differentiated parts of society into a coherent whole. If these pressures cannot be met, then a society will exhibit increased potential for social pathologies. (ex: conflict, deviance, poor coordination) Distinctive stages of societal evolution: simple societies without a head (or political leader, compounding of simple societies into successively more differentiated social formation along four axes, production, reproduction, distribution, regulation. The use of coercive power only increases the centralization of power that deprives the domestic economy of capital, while increasing inequalities, stratification and tension that leads to even more coercive force. **growth and differentiation always generate selection pressures on populations to create new kinds of productive, reproductive, regulatory and distributive structures. How a new basis of societal integration can evolve with societal growth and differentiation.
