Inleiding. Het evolutieperspectief in de sociale wetenschappen

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Introduction. The Evolution Perspective in the Social Sciences, Introduces a thematic issue of the journal centering around the history and applications of evolutionary theory in sociology. The tradition of social evolutionism, formulated originally by Herbert Spencer and emulated by several of his 19th-century contemporaries, and its further development into social Darwinism are described. The rise of synchronous empirical research in the early 20th century caused evolutionary theories focusing on the longitudinal development of humanity and its societies to lose their theoretical prominence, though evolutionary notions remained pertinent in many frameworks (eg, functionalism). In the last decades of the 20th century, evolutionary thinking has regained some of its importance via new impulses from the fields of biology (notably DNA research and sociobiological disciplines) and astronomy, and as an effect of recent social processes for which the evolutionary framework appears well suited (eg, globalization). Contributions are grouped into sections focusing on the relationship between biological evolution and sociocultural developments, the history of evolution theory in the social sciences, and potential applications of evolution sociology. 38 References. S. Paul