The Punctuated Equilibrium Macropattern of World System Urbanization and the Factors that Give Rise to that Macropattern
Journal Title: Social Evolution & History - Year 2017, Vol 16, Issue 1
Abstract
Change in complex systems, system evolution, is itself complex. This paper is about world system evolution as it is reflected in the pattern of urbanization over the last 5000 years. It will be shown that the pattern of urbanization as part of the immensely complex world system exhibits non-linearity in that it is neither smooth nor continuous but rather is punctuated by periods of rapid change interspersed between periods of stasis. This pattern was first described in biological systems by Eldridge and Gould (1972) for speciation, and much of the pattern of urbanization reflects the characteristics of punctuated equilibrium first described by those two authors. Specifically, this paper will investigate the phenomenon of punctuated equilibrium reflected in both the macro-pattern of urbanization over historic time, i.e. the evidence for punctuated equilibrium as reflected by data on urbanization and on the level of state development, and possible mechanisms for such punctuated behavior including the general model of self-organized criticality as developed by Per Bak (1996), the role of hypercycle formation in punctuated equilibrium, the role of aromorphic processes, and the interaction between population, carrying capacity, and level of technology as represented by a very general math model.
Authors and Affiliations
Antony Harper
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP265911
- DOI -
- Views 148
- Downloads 0
Great Divergence and Great Convergence in a Global Perspective
A review of Leonid Grinin and Andrey Korotyaev, Great Divergence and Great Convergence in a Global Perspective, Springer International Publishing, 2015
State Building, States, and State Transformation in Africa: Introduction
Postcolonial societies are a unique event in world history. Their emergence in the mid-twentieth century did not result from centuries-old internal social processes, but was directly determined by the formation and short...
Afrocentricity: The Evolution of the Theory in the Context of American History
The African Americans or Black Americans continue to be one of the largest minorities in the USA. The descendants of the African slaves they encountered discrimination, came through racial segregation (1865–1955) and fie...
The Principle ‘One Zambia, One Nation’: Fifty Years Later
In the first years of independence, United National Independence Party (UNIP) and President of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda, realizing that Zambia as a young multi-ethnic state can develop only assuming normal relations between...
The Settlement of a Region as a Historical Phenomenon: The Middle Volga and Transvolga Regions in the Development of the Russian Civilization and Nation
A review of Kabytov, P. S., Dubman E. L., and Leontieva, O. B. (Eds.) ‘Finding Homeland’: Society and Power in the Middle Volga Region (from the Second Half of the 16th to Early 20th Centuries). Vol. 2. Regional Settleme...