Neoevolutionism

Neoevolutionism is a social theory that tries to explain the evolution of societies by drawing on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and discarding some dogmas of the previous social evolutionism. Neoevolutionism is concerned with long-term, directional, evolutionary social change and with the regular patterns of development that may be seen in unrelated, widely separated cultures.

'Neoevolutionism' is also a controversial scientific theory claiming that evolution is a ongoing process that is continuing to occur in the present day. Examples being coyote-dog hybrids across North America and hybrids of African and Asian pythons in Florida. The biological theory of neoevolutionism recognizes that human beings are responsible for significantly changing the earths environment and new species are evolving as a direct result of these changes. Exotic species introduced into new environments have the most potential to adaptively radiate as they exploit available niches in their new ecosystem.

Neoevolutionism emerged in the 1930s. It developed extensively in the period after the Second World War—and was incorporated into anthropology as well as sociology in the 1960s.

Its theories are based on empirical evidence from fields such as archaeology, paleontology, and historiography. Proponents say neoevolutionism is objective and simply descriptive, eliminating any references to a moral or cultural system of values.

While the 19th century evolutionism explained how culture develops by giving general principles of its evolutionary process, it was dismissed by Historical Particularism as unscientific in the early 20th century. It was the neoevolutionary thinkers who brought back evolutionary thought and developed it to be acceptable to contemporary anthropology.

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