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9 - Systemic Threats

from Anthropocene Evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2020

Patrick Manning
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
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Summary

The sudden changes and new problems of the Anthropocene, viewed through evolutionary theory, highlight issues of social fitness: who is benefited by an institution? Anthropocene growth – in economy, population, waste, and inequality – fostered midcentury social confrontations and ideological conflict. Capitalism, now paired with empire, won global dominion. Further institutional change led, after two great wars, to contesting racial categorization, emancipating large and small nations, and demanding post-imperial regulation of economic inequality. Should institutions respond to social and environmental needs – or regulate themselves? The chapter contrasts theories: social evolution in trade unions and cultural evolution as applied to an urban ethnic community. Neoliberal visionaries proposed a postwar solution, treating markets as devices for governing not only economic but social behavior. From 1980, authorities in the USA, UK, and IMF encouraged divergence in wealth holdings and opposed regulation of private firms. With Soviet collapse and Chinese reforms, neoliberalism led the world economy, placing social inequality and ecological degradation as low priorities.

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Chapter
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A History of Humanity
The Evolution of the Human System
, pp. 203 - 234
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Systemic Threats
  • Patrick Manning, University of Pittsburgh
  • Book: A History of Humanity
  • Online publication: 14 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108784528.010
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  • Systemic Threats
  • Patrick Manning, University of Pittsburgh
  • Book: A History of Humanity
  • Online publication: 14 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108784528.010
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Systemic Threats
  • Patrick Manning, University of Pittsburgh
  • Book: A History of Humanity
  • Online publication: 14 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108784528.010
Available formats
×