The Course of Human History: Economic Growth, Social Process, and CivilizationThis text explores four major features of human society in their ecological and historical context: the origins of priests and organised religion; the rise of military men in an agrarian society; economic expansion and growth; and civilising and decivilising trends over time. |
Contents
Ecological Regimes and the Rise of Organized Religion | 31 |
The Formation of MilitaryAgrarian Regimes | 49 |
Extensive Growth in the Premodern World | 63 |
Recurrent Transitions to Intensive Growth | 83 |
Civilizing and Decivilizing Processes | 101 |
Comparing Civilizing Processes | 117 |
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Common terms and phrases
agrarian regime agrarian societies agriculture anthropologists argued Asia Asian behavior Cambridge capital century chapter China chronology civilizing processes concept context cultural decivilizing domestication of fire dominant early modern ecological economic growth economic history Elias's theory emergence empires Eric Jones especially Europe European European Miracle example explain extensive Feudalism forces formation functions Hesiod historians human groups human history income increasing Industrial Revolution institutions intensive growth Japan Japanese Johan Goudsblom Krobo La Trobe University London long-term processes long-term social processes major means Michael Mann military military-agrarian Norbert Elias numbers Odysseus output Oxford peasants period phaseology phases political population growth premodern priestly priests and warriors problems production relatively religion rise self-constraints social development social evolution sociogenesis sociologists sociology stage Stephen Mennell structure Taagepera technical change tion Tokugawa trends University of Exeter University Press violence Weber Western World History