1. use of metaphors in social
science analyses: the example of
evolu5onary theories
Dr Abid Mehmood
Abid.Mehmood@ncl.ac.uk

2. Outline
1. Metaphors: need, uses, samples
2. Organic metaphors
3. Evolu5onary theories: Histories, components
4. Evolu5onary metaphors in social, economic,
cultural studies
5. Cri5cisms
6. Summary

3. what is a metaphor?
can be described as:
• A figure of speech
• An analogy
• A model
• An extended simile
to reflect the complexity of an idea…

4. why do we need a metaphor?
• A heuris5c device (to approach a solu5on)
• A process
cri$cisms
• Uncri5cal, Intui5ve, Interpre5ve
BUT
• Consequences are more than scien5fic
• Wider social cultural implica5ons
should be used carefully, e.g. ‘reproduc5on’ to
describe social processes (Sayer, 1992)

5. …some examples
• The Anatomy of a Revolu5on (Brinton, 1938)
– cyclic pa]erns of fever and chill to define major
poli5cal revolu5ons in US, France, UK and Russia
• Dance (Janesick, 1994)
– warm up, exercise and cool down periods to
define qualita5ve research design decisions
• A ‘func5oning specific’ (Stake, 1994)
– an integrated system analogy to define case study
research

6. • Plate Tectonics, used to define current
structural crisis (Patsy Healey)
• Quantum City (Arida, 2002), using Quantum
Physics to discuss urban design
• Fractal Ci5es (Ba]y and Longley, 1994), using
Fractal Geometry to understand urban form.

7. organic metaphor
Social‐cultural interac5on
•
Development of norms, habits, prac5ces
•
Human agency
•
Community dynamics
•

8. evolu5onary ‘metaphor’
in social sciences
three streams:
1. Evolu5onary theories adapted from biology (e.g.
sociobiology, of Wilson, 1980)
2. Biological concepts combined with social‐cultural
thought (Meme$cs, Dawkins, 1976)
3. Build independent social evolu5onary theories
(‘constella5ons of communi5es’, Sahlins 1960)
2 and 3 are preferred, especially in social science context

9. evolu5onary theories: a survey
conducted by Sanderson (1997)
• Evolu5onary theories are…
– fundamentally sound 3%
– seriously flawed 38%
– sound in principal, but need 47%
improvement
percep5ons and poten5als…

10. evolu5on
“…curious aspect of the theory of evolu$on is that
everybody thinks that he understands it!” – Jacques Monod
(Dawkins 1976: 19)
• One of the problems is the word ‘evolu5on’
itself
Biology? Philosophy?
Development? Dynamics?
More diverse set of approaches…

11. etymology of evolu5on
• Biology
– Ini5al use: Schwammerdam 1669, Haller 1744
– Theory of Pre‐forma5on (Bonnet 1762)
– Ontogeny: development of a single organism
– Phylogeny: development of species (or group)
• Philosophy
– Evolvere: unfold. Direc5onal ac5vity
– Revela5on or working out of an idea (17th cent.)
– Unrolling of scroll. Prewri]en book being read‐off

12. history of evolu5onary thought
• Greek philosophers
• German scholars Herder, Lessing, Goethe, and
Kant laid philosophical grounds for modern
evolu5onism
• Kropotkin (1902) introduced the no5on of
‘mutual aid’

13. • ‘Principles of Poli5cal Economy’ – Malthus
(1798)
• ‘Principles of Geology’ – Charles Lyell (1830)
• Compara5ve and diachronic linguis5cs
“We find in dis$nct languages striking homologies due to community of
descent, and analogies due to a similar process of forma$on… A language, like
a species, when ex$nct, never… reappears”
– Darwin (1859: 422)

14. theories of evolu5on: Lamarckism
• First comprehensive theory of evolu5on in 1809
• Representa5ves of a species undergo constant
‘transforma5on’:
– Purposeful behaviour or desire for change
– Inheritance of acquired characters
• Social‐cultural transmission
• Meme5cs (Dawkins, 1976)
• Environment as the agent of change

15. theories of evolu5on: Darwinism
• Four principles of evolu5on:
– Varia5on
– Heredity
– Natural selec5on: direc5onal, disrup5ve
– Struggle for existence
• Ar5ficial selec5on?

16. Time period
Key concepts Main contributors
1850‐1870 ‐ Social evolu5onary theories ‐ Herbert Spencer (1872)
‐ Modern anthropology (kinship ‐ Lewis Morgan (1877) and Edward
studies; cultural anthropology) Tylor (1871, 1878)
1880‐1900 ‐ Organic solidarity ‐ Emile Durkheim (1893)
‐ Mutual aid as a factor of evolu5on ‐ Petr Kropotkin (1902)
1900‐20 ‐ Evolu5onary nature of economics ‐ Alfred Marshall (1898)
‐ Ins5tu5onal economics, habits of ‐ John R. Commons (1897; 1931)
prac5ce, Evolu5onary economics ‐ Thorstein Veblen (1898, 1914)
1930‐40 ‐ Historical pa]erns ‐ Childe (1936; 1943; 1951)
‐ Social and cultural evolu5onism ‐ Leslie White (1945; 1949; 1959)
‐ Cultural ecology ‐ Steward (1949; 1955; 1977)
‐ Evolu5onary sociology ‐ Parsons (1951; 1966; 1971)
‐ Socio‐economic development ‐ Schumpeter (1934)
1950‐60 ‐ Evolu5onism as major perspec5ve ‐ Disciples of White and Steward:
in culture and anthropology ‐ Service (1962), Sahlins (1960; 2005)
‐ Social stra5fica5on ‐ Gerhard Lenski (1966;1970)
‐ Evolu5on and economic behaviour ‐ Armen Alchian (1950)
1970‐80 ‐ Rou5nised behaviour ‐ Nelson and Winter (1982)
‐ Evolu5on of cultures ‐ Boyd and Richerson (1985)
‐ Evolu5on and social behaviour ‐ Tim Ingold (1986)
‐ Meme5c theory ‐ Richard Dawkins (1976) et al
1990 – present ‐ Social evolu5onism ‐ Sanderson (2005, 1995)
‐ Evolu5onary and ins5tu5onal ‐ Hodgson (1988; 1993), Wi] (1993;
economics 2003), Vromen (1995)
‐ Wider interdisciplinary works ‐ various authors

17. history of evolu5onary thought in
social sciences
1. 1850s‐1870s
– Social evolu5onary theories
– Modern anthropology (kinship; cultural anthropology)
2. 1880s‐1900
– Organic solidarity
– Mutual aid as a factor of evolu5on
3. 1900‐1920s
– Evolu5onary nature of economics
– Ins5tu5onal economics, habits of prac5ce
– Evolu5onary economics

18. history, contd.
4. 1930s‐1940s
– Historical pa]erns
– Social and cultural evolu5onism
– Cultural ecology
– Evolu5onary sociology
– Socio‐economic development
5. 1950s‐1960s
– ‐ Evolu5onism as major perspec5ve in culture and
anthropology
– ‐ Social stra5fica5on
– ‐ Evolu5on and economic behaviour

19. history, contd.
6. 1970s‐1980s
– Rou5nised behaviour
– Evolu5on of cultures
– Evolu5on and social behaviour
– Meme5c theory of cultural evolu5on
7. 1990s‐ Present
– Social evolu5onism
– Evolu5onary and ins5tu5onal economics
– Wider interdisciplinary works

20. key components of evolu5onary metaphor
• Variety
– inherited characteris5c
– diversity as engine of evolu5onary process
– innova5on
• Heredity
– transmission of characteris5cs
– environment
– habits of thought, habits of prac5ce, rou5nes

21. • Natural selec5on
– altera5on in Composi5ons & characteris5cs
– borrowed from Newtonian physics/complex systems?
– environmental condi5ons
– crea5on and procrea5on
• Adapta5on
– Inheritable
– coopera5on and selec5on
– Environment
– history

22. evolu5onary metaphors in SS
Dynamic interac5on of variety, heredity, natural
selec5on, and adapta5on provides
metaphorical basis to understand:
• Cultural evolu5on
• Evolu5onary and ins5tu5onal economics
• Social evolu5onary theory

23. cultural evolu5on
As an evolving system
•
Not analogous to biological evolu5on
•
Childe, on four key components
•
Sahlins, on general and specific evolu5on
•
Social Darwinism
•
Memes
•
– units of cultural transmission
– Cri5cisms about meme5c theory

24. evolu5onary economics
• Veblen (1898):
– idle curiosity, cumula5ve causa5on, rela5ve
stability, adapta5ons
• Nelson and Winter (1982): Rou5nes
– organisa5ons ‘remember’ by doing
– rou5nes as ‘genes’
– rou5nised behaviour
– rou5nes as units of economic change

25. social evolu5onary theory
“the fiCest are not the physically strongest, nor the
cunningest, but those who learn to combine so as mutually to
support each other, strong and weak alike, for the welfare of
the community” (Kropotkin, 1902: 2).
• Durkheim’s (1893) mechanical and organic
solidari5es
• Kropotkin’s ‘mutual aid’
• Parsons’ (1951) ‘societal community’ and ‘social
system’.
• Sahlins’ (2005) on social progress and structures

26. community dynamics
• Evolu5on, social aggrega5on and interac5on
– micro‐level: individual interac5on and families
• knowledge, beliefs and customs
• inter‐related subsystems, memes
– meso‐level: communi5es, firms and organisa5ons
• culture and ins5tu5onal change, habits of thought and
prac5ce, rou5nised behaviour
– macro‐level: societal structure
• Systeic solidarity, mutual aid, and social networks

27. • Complex systems
– complexity theory: physical, social and natural
sciences
– a reac5on to mechanis5c and reduc5onist
approaches
– systems thinking
– social interac5on

28. factors of crea5vity & interac5on
1. Reciprocity
2. Redistribu5on
3. Exchange
4. Solidarity
5. Associa5on

29. 1. Reciprocity
– generalised, balanced and nega5ve reciprocity
2. Redistribu5on
– top‐down, collec5on/distribu5on
– at all levels of social aggrega5on

30. 3. Exchange
– the missing link between physical and social
sciences
– opera5onal, decisional, and integra5ve exchange
(Polanyi, 1957)
4. Solidarity
– unity, harmony, cohesion
5. Associa5on
– common purpose

31. types and func5ons of ‘selec5on’

32. ‘the processes of “rejec$on – and the
occasional acceptance of alterna$ves – […]
with prohibi$ons, obstacles and healing” can
be too slow to be no$ced
contemporarily’ (Braudel, 1987: 31)

33. cri5cisms
weaknesses in evolu5onary analogies to:
• Address structural aspects, especially social structure
over 5me and space;
• Analyse network rela5onships;
• Differen5ate purposeful behaviour or specific social
and cultural features of human behaviour; and,
• Forecast the pa]erns and cycles of development

34. but…
various SS disciplines have already addressed
these:
– evolu5onary anthropology on the understanding
of the development of social structures;
– evolu5onary sociology on social networks;
– Mayr’s ‘programme based behaviour’
– game theory and transporta5on networks
analyses to reduce uncertainty

35. In a nutshell…
• Evolu5onary theory can be considered exclusive of
biology
• Has contributed to social, economic and cultural
analyses
• Offers tools to understand mul5‐level reproduc5on
dynamics and change
• Cri5cisms can be addressed through interdisciplinary
learning
• Helpful in analysing social interac5on, networks,
systems, and development.

36. Selected References
Arida, A. (2002) Quantum City, Oxford: Architectural press
•
Brinton, C. (1938) The anatomy of a revolu$on. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Pren5ce Hall.
•
Braudel, F. (1987) Grammaire de civilisa$ons. Paris: Les Edi5ons Arthaud.
•
Dawkins, R. (1976) The selfish gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
•
Janesick, V. J. (1994) 'The dance of qualita5ve research design: Metaphor. methodolatry, and
•
meaning', in Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S.(eds) Handbook of qualita$ve research. London:
Sage, pp. 209‐219.
Kropotkin, P. A. (1902) Mutual aid, a factor of evolu$on. Porter Sargent Publishers
•
Mehmood, A. (2008) Analysing socioeconomic development on small islands from an
•
evolu$onary perspec$ve. thesis. Newcastle University.
Nelson, R. R. and Winter, S. G. (1982) An evolu$onary theory of economic change. Belknap
•
Press of Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.
Polanyi, K., Arensberg, C. M. and Pearson, H. W. (eds.) (1957) Trade and market in the early
•
empires: economies in history and theory. New York: The Free Press.
Sahlins, M. D. and Service, E. R. (eds.) (1960) Evolu$on and culture. Ann Arbor: The University
•
of Michigan Press
Veblen, T. (1898) 'Why is economics not an evolu5onary science?' Quarterly Journal of
•
Economics, 12, pp. 373‐397.