The Theory of Cultural Evolution is a critical approach to understand the development of our species, Homo sapiens, as it explicitly frames this process as coin with two inseparable and intertwined sides – one for biological change and one for cultural change. While this dual perspective has been demonstrably impactful in various fields, including anthropology, archae- ology, linguistics, sociology, psychology, and economics, it remains surprisingly overlooked and underrepresented, particularly in the Italian academic context. Despite its significant con- tributions to the theoretical and methodological advancements in these disciplines, the relative marginalization of this approach highlights the challenges interdisciplinary perspectives often face when attempting to penetrate more specialized academic fields. This paper seeks to pro- vide a brief (and necessarily non-exhaustive) introduction to this approach, with the hope that its wider dissemination may promote greater integration of this innovative framework into var- ious disciplines, with a particular focus on the study of the evolutionary journey of our species, from its African origins to the present day.
Bortolini, E. (2024). Evoluzione Culturale: una prospettiva quantitativa sui processi di trasmissione della cultura. Bologna : Bologna University Press [10.30682/annalesm2402g].
Evoluzione Culturale: una prospettiva quantitativa sui processi di trasmissione della cultura
Eugenio Bortolini
Primo
2024
Abstract
The Theory of Cultural Evolution is a critical approach to understand the development of our species, Homo sapiens, as it explicitly frames this process as coin with two inseparable and intertwined sides – one for biological change and one for cultural change. While this dual perspective has been demonstrably impactful in various fields, including anthropology, archae- ology, linguistics, sociology, psychology, and economics, it remains surprisingly overlooked and underrepresented, particularly in the Italian academic context. Despite its significant con- tributions to the theoretical and methodological advancements in these disciplines, the relative marginalization of this approach highlights the challenges interdisciplinary perspectives often face when attempting to penetrate more specialized academic fields. This paper seeks to pro- vide a brief (and necessarily non-exhaustive) introduction to this approach, with the hope that its wider dissemination may promote greater integration of this innovative framework into var- ious disciplines, with a particular focus on the study of the evolutionary journey of our species, from its African origins to the present day.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.


