6 - Thinking About Theories of Sociocultural Evolution from the Perspective of Oaxaca

Summary

These analyses indicate that causality did not have a preferred scale of operation, so a multiscalar method is required; likewise, in both nonstate and state societies an expanded institutional approach reveals greater complexity than in theories that assume ruler or elite dominance. The case illustrates a coactive causal process in which collective action policies by the state resulted in population growth, urbanization, production intensity, market participation, and material standard of living across social sectors, which in turn fed back to the state-building process.