Peter Turchin
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691180779
- eISBN:
- 9781400889310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691180779.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
This chapter discusses the dynamics underlying collective solidarity, building the theory by inferring group dynamics from interactions between individuals and polity dynamics from interactions ...
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This chapter discusses the dynamics underlying collective solidarity, building the theory by inferring group dynamics from interactions between individuals and polity dynamics from interactions between groups. Groups vary in their capacity for collective action as a result of a complex mix of individual behaviors, such as the ability to detect and punish free-riders. The capacity for collective solidarity, or asabiya, refers to the group capacity for concerted collective action. The chapter first provides an overview of groups in sociology and how human behavior and sociality promote the evolution of solidaristic behaviors before exploring the importance of ethnic groups and ethnicity in collective solidarity. It then considers the link between collective solidarity and historical dynamics, Ibn Khaldun's theory of political cycles, and Lev Gumilev's theory of ethnogenesis. Finally, it examines how collective solidarity relates to modern concepts such as social capital, Emile Durkheim's mechanical and organic solidarity, and individualism and collectivism.Less
This chapter discusses the dynamics underlying collective solidarity, building the theory by inferring group dynamics from interactions between individuals and polity dynamics from interactions between groups. Groups vary in their capacity for collective action as a result of a complex mix of individual behaviors, such as the ability to detect and punish free-riders. The capacity for collective solidarity, or asabiya, refers to the group capacity for concerted collective action. The chapter first provides an overview of groups in sociology and how human behavior and sociality promote the evolution of solidaristic behaviors before exploring the importance of ethnic groups and ethnicity in collective solidarity. It then considers the link between collective solidarity and historical dynamics, Ibn Khaldun's theory of political cycles, and Lev Gumilev's theory of ethnogenesis. Finally, it examines how collective solidarity relates to modern concepts such as social capital, Emile Durkheim's mechanical and organic solidarity, and individualism and collectivism.
Peter Turchin
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691180779
- eISBN:
- 9781400889310
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691180779.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
Many historical processes are dynamic. Populations grow and decline. Empires expand and collapse. Religions spread and wither. Natural scientists have made great strides in understanding dynamical ...
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Many historical processes are dynamic. Populations grow and decline. Empires expand and collapse. Religions spread and wither. Natural scientists have made great strides in understanding dynamical processes in the physical and biological worlds using a synthetic approach that combines mathematical modeling with statistical analyses. Taking up the problem of territorial dynamics—why some polities at certain times expand and at other times contract—this book shows that a similar research program can advance our understanding of dynamical processes in history. The book develops hypotheses from a wide range of social, political, economic, and demographic factors: geopolitics, factors affecting collective solidarity, dynamics of ethnic assimilation/religious conversion, and the interaction between population dynamics and sociopolitical stability. It then translates these into a spectrum of mathematical models, investigates the dynamics predicted by the models, and contrasts model predictions with empirical patterns. The book's highly instructive empirical tests demonstrate that certain models predict empirical patterns with a very high degree of accuracy. For instance, one model accounts for the recurrent waves of state breakdown in medieval and early modern Europe. And historical data confirm that ethno-nationalist solidarity produces an aggressively expansive state under certain conditions (such as in locations where imperial frontiers coincide with religious divides). The strength of the book's results suggests that the synthetic approach advocated can significantly improve our understanding of historical dynamics.Less
Many historical processes are dynamic. Populations grow and decline. Empires expand and collapse. Religions spread and wither. Natural scientists have made great strides in understanding dynamical processes in the physical and biological worlds using a synthetic approach that combines mathematical modeling with statistical analyses. Taking up the problem of territorial dynamics—why some polities at certain times expand and at other times contract—this book shows that a similar research program can advance our understanding of dynamical processes in history. The book develops hypotheses from a wide range of social, political, economic, and demographic factors: geopolitics, factors affecting collective solidarity, dynamics of ethnic assimilation/religious conversion, and the interaction between population dynamics and sociopolitical stability. It then translates these into a spectrum of mathematical models, investigates the dynamics predicted by the models, and contrasts model predictions with empirical patterns. The book's highly instructive empirical tests demonstrate that certain models predict empirical patterns with a very high degree of accuracy. For instance, one model accounts for the recurrent waves of state breakdown in medieval and early modern Europe. And historical data confirm that ethno-nationalist solidarity produces an aggressively expansive state under certain conditions (such as in locations where imperial frontiers coincide with religious divides). The strength of the book's results suggests that the synthetic approach advocated can significantly improve our understanding of historical dynamics.
Arvind Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195679489
- eISBN:
- 9780199081714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195679489.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
A modern quasi-legal concept of capitalized Human Rights developed in the West at the expense of cursive human rights in the rest of the world. When it is claimed that human rights are Western then ...
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A modern quasi-legal concept of capitalized Human Rights developed in the West at the expense of cursive human rights in the rest of the world. When it is claimed that human rights are Western then it could be taken to mean that human rights understood as rights of citizens are a Western notion, while human rights understood as the rights of human beings are a universal concept. Of the three forms of rights—personal rights, solidarity rights, and collective rights—it was the first kind which first gained legal force in the West, and the rest followed suit. The suggestion in this chapter is that if the argument by law is won then the argument by morality is lost.Less
A modern quasi-legal concept of capitalized Human Rights developed in the West at the expense of cursive human rights in the rest of the world. When it is claimed that human rights are Western then it could be taken to mean that human rights understood as rights of citizens are a Western notion, while human rights understood as the rights of human beings are a universal concept. Of the three forms of rights—personal rights, solidarity rights, and collective rights—it was the first kind which first gained legal force in the West, and the rest followed suit. The suggestion in this chapter is that if the argument by law is won then the argument by morality is lost.
Massimo Montanari
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231167864
- eISBN:
- 9780231539081
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231167864.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter looks at the dining table as a means of communication. The convivio (banquet table) is a metaphor for the identity of a group or of life together. Like life, the banquet table is a ...
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This chapter looks at the dining table as a means of communication. The convivio (banquet table) is a metaphor for the identity of a group or of life together. Like life, the banquet table is a central place where everything, even tensions and conflicts, can take place because it is metaphorically the most meaningful sounding board for amplifying everything that happens in the order of things, and the relationships between people—separations and betrayals, no less than friendships and alliances. Although the banquet table expresses the identity of the group, it also expresses the underlying relations of strength and power. This can be the symbolic place of collective solidarity, in which one participates by virtue of being a part of the group that sits together at the banquet table.Less
This chapter looks at the dining table as a means of communication. The convivio (banquet table) is a metaphor for the identity of a group or of life together. Like life, the banquet table is a central place where everything, even tensions and conflicts, can take place because it is metaphorically the most meaningful sounding board for amplifying everything that happens in the order of things, and the relationships between people—separations and betrayals, no less than friendships and alliances. Although the banquet table expresses the identity of the group, it also expresses the underlying relations of strength and power. This can be the symbolic place of collective solidarity, in which one participates by virtue of being a part of the group that sits together at the banquet table.
