Order and Anarchy: Civil Society, Social Disorder and War

by Layton, Robert
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ISBN: 9780521674430
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Overview

Through the study of civil society, the evolution of social relations, and the breakdown of social order, Order and Anarchy re-examines the role of violence in human social evolution. Drawing on anthropology, political science, and evolutionary theory, it offers a novel approach to understanding stability and instability in human society. Robert Layton provides a radical critique of current concepts of civil society, arguing that rational action is characteristic of all human societies and not unique to post-Enlightenment Europe. Case studies range from ephemeral African gold rush communities and the night club scene in Britain to stable hunter-gatherer and peasant cultures. The dynamics of recent civil wars in the former Yugoslavia, Chad, Somalia and Indonesia are compared to war in small-scale tribal societies, arguing that recent claims for the evolutionary value of violence have misunderstood the complexity of human strategies and the social environments in which they are played out.
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Author: Layton, Robert
  • ISBN: 9780521674430
  • Condition: Used
  • Dimensions: 8.50 x 0.51
  • Number Of Pages: 197
  • Publication Year: 2006

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