Generalising Darwinism to study socio-cultural change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the use of the evolutionary approach, and in particular the generalisation of Darwinian principles beyond biology to study sociocultural change. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a review of developments in generalising Darwinism to study socio-cultural change, including key criticisms against using the approach. In the process, key disagreements between the different conceptual approaches taken by evolutionary scholars, and key criticisms against using an evolutionary approach are highlighted. Findings – It was seen that a number of critics fail to grasp the abstracted concept of Universal and Generalised Darwinism, focusing their arguments on detailed differences between socio-cultural and biological evolution. Future research within the field should be directed towards building consensus regarding the definitions of key concepts and using detailed empirical investigations to shed light on the usefulness of the different approaches taken for research and practice. Originality/value – The key contribution of this paper is the presentation of a critical review of developments made in generalising Darwinism. It is further argued that the universal appeal of the approach offers researchers an opportunity for cross-fertilising ideas, generating new insights across disciplines and learning from developments being made in parallel fields of study.