Small groups as the engines of cultural evolution / Nina Witoszek

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Witoszek, Nina, author.

Series:

Cambridge elements. Elements in applied evolutionary science

Cambridge elements. Elements in applied evolutionary science, 2752-9428

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Small groups.

Social change.

Social Change.

Medical Subjects:

Social Change.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Summary:

"This Element explores the evolutionary role of small groups as key actors in shaping human adaptability, resilience, and societal development. Drawing on cultural evolutionary theory and interdisciplinary scholarship, it illuminates the world-making and transformative capacities of small groups as primary agents of cooperative communication, cultural innovation, and transmission. Through historical and contemporary case studies from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, it examines how small groups function both as catalysts for moral imagination, cooperation, and democratic renewal, and as drivers of destructive ideologies and social disintegration. The study also reassesses the relevance of evolutionary insights for addressing the major crises of the twenty-first century. By critically engaging with foundational thinkers and ongoing debates on democratic and institutional innovation, this Element offers insights for scholars, policymakers, and civic actors committed to empowering communities and countering authoritarian regression"-- Cambridge Core

Contents:

Introduction : making sense of small groups as drivers of cultural evolution

From Alexis de Tocqueville to Robert Putnam : theories of small groups in the social sciences

Unfreezing the past : evolutionary perspectives on small groups

Small integrative groups as catalysts of emancipative transitions

Malignant palingenesis : small disintegrative groups as drivers of evolutionary regressions

The power of the powerless : small groups in the age of polycrisis

Toward a prosocial future : policy implications and research vistas

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed May 11, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Witoszek, Nina Small groups as the engines of cultural evolution

ISBN:

9781009732291

1009732293

OCLC:

1587115887

Publisher Number:

CIPO000368739

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license