bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chronic Pain, Recuperation, and Care-Eliciting
Authors: Cantor Christopher H. , Craig Kenneth D.
Published: May 2024

This chapter explores evidence suggesting an adaptive basis for chronic pain and the conceptual implications. A literature review included: human pain, animal pain across species, caregiving, cooperation, evolutionary theory, and signaling theory. Traditional models of chronic pain focus on proximal features rather than distal origins. Evolutionary perspectives emphasize pain’s late recuperative stage involving interactions between helpers and sufferers. Species vary in care-eliciting/caregiving behaviors, with some being biologically prepared to help, while others ignore injured conspecifics. Cooperation, the foundation of caregiving, evolved through diverse mechanisms. Research highlights communication and coping aspects of pain behavior, with signaling theory and cost-benefit perspectives adding new dimensions. If chronic pain evolved promoting care-elicitation to facilitate recuperation it may have been ancestrally adaptive. Understanding chronic pain in the social contexts of patients’ lives provides greater understanding than viewing patients as displaying abnormal pain behaviors.
Kama Muta
Authors: Knutsen Steinnes Kamilla , Lyshol Johanna Katarina Blomster , H. Zickfeld Janis , Schubert Thomas , Seibt Beate
Published: May 2024

Cuteness, as described through Konrad Lorenz’s Kindchenschema, refers to a youthful and fragile appearance through a set of physical features such as large eyes, a round head, and a small nose. Such features elicit careful behavior in the perceiver, capture attention, and motivate approach. This chapter describes various responses to cuteness and discusses how these are culturally unifying yet affected by cultural salience and personal differences. Despite the long line of empirical studies suggesting that cuteness has an evolutionary function, recent advances indicate that responses to cuteness go beyond maternal caregiving to offspring. According to different theories, cuteness may evoke compassion, tenderness, empathic concern, nurturant love, kawaii, or dimorphous emotional expressions, facilitating pro-social behavior, social engagement, and humanization. The chapter suggests that evolutionary and cultural aspects of these emotional states can be united through the common core of devotion to communal relationships—at the heart of the kama muta emotion.
The Elements of Gratitude
Authors: N. Loria Riley , Lieberman Debra , J. Pedersen Eric
Published: May 2024

Gratitude is a key emotion motivating the initiation and maintenance of cooperative relationships. However, it has received relatively little attention from evolutionarily minded social scientists. We have learned much about gratitude in the past two decades that sheds light on gratitude’s purported evolved functions, but several questions remain: Does gratitude rely on benefit delivery? Does it require that a cost be incurred? Does gratitude correspond to a change in another’s value of the self, the self’s value of another, or both? And how do expressions of gratitude influence perceptions of the expressor? This chapter begins with an overview of the science of gratitude by reviewing research from positive and social psychology, highlighting the cross-cultural similarities and differences in the experience and expression of gratitude. The authors then focus on evolutionary perspectives on gratitude, discuss experimental results that adjudicate between them, and suggest profitable lines of future research.
Curiosity
Authors: Scrivner Coltan
Published: May 2024

Despite a rich history of research, scientists have not been able to agree upon a single definition or taxonomy of curiosity. These diverging perspectives have led to a breadth of research that has yet to be integrated under one framework. The author of this chapter proposes that research on curiosity can benefit from an evolutionary perspective, and more broadly from a biological perspective on information-gathering behavior. The author synthesizes the literature on curiosity from the perspective of behavioral biology—i.e., Tinbergen’s four questions. The behavioral biology framework provides a powerful lens through which questions about behavior can be asked and iterative empirical work and theoretical construction can take place. In particular, the author argues that evolutionary perspectives on curiosity can help identify the “joints” of nature at which curiosity may be carved.
Contentment
Authors: Cordaro Daniel
Published: May 2024

Contentment is felt when one’s present experience is perceived to be complete as it is. There is a growing literature which, when taken together, establishes contentment as a discrete, universally recognized emotion that is distinct from happiness and other related pleasant states. Contentment serves several evolutionarily important functions critical to individual survival, and it supports the sustainability of larger ecosystems. It buffers against resource overconsumption and serves as a barometer for unconditional acceptance of self and others. Contentment is highly valued across philosophical traditions spanning 4,000 years, and its facial and vocal expressions are recognized and displayed across cultures. This chapter takes an evolutionary approach to contentment and reviews the historical and empirical literatures giving rise to its importance for emotion psychology. Based on these observations, future directions for the continued study of this empirically rich and philosophically important basic emotion are discussed.
Happiness
Authors: Goetz Stefan M. M. , Weisfeld Glenn E.
Published: May 2024

This chapter proposes a model of happiness from a discrete emotions theory perspective. It takes a materialistic view of happiness, arguing that happiness is a nonspecific catch-all category of positive emotions that evolved to promote the repetition of fitness-enhancing behaviors. The chapter begins by laying out the view of the evolutionary significance of happiness, arguing that positive affects represent proximate mechanisms that reinforce and guide adaptive behaviors but are not direct targets of selection. Rather, the resultant adaptive behaviors are the targets. It then discusses potential signaling functions of the expression of happiness and presents the neural bases of positive emotions. It also addresses why happiness is ephemeral, concluding that were it not, the behaviors that initially engendered happiness would be less likely to be repeated. Finally, it discusses contemporary measurement approaches before concluding with a brief discussion of some of the correlates of happiness and pathology.
Humor
Authors: Weisfeld Glenn E. , Cronin Weisfeld Carol
Published: May 2024

Humor has been studied from an evolutionary point of view beginning with Darwin. Some evolutionary theorists have regarded humor as a universal emotion. With its distinct affect and expression, humor meets most criteria for having an evolved basis. The expression of laughter has homologues in other primates and, as in children, is observed during tickling and other social play. This chapter proposes a functional theory of laughter that attempts to account for the fitness benefits for recipient and producer of humor. The recipient gains information and practice that are of later utility in social encounters. Alternative functional explanations for humor are reviewed, but these often feature group selection ideas and fail to account for the fitness value for the humorist. Humor appreciation is correlated with health, but mainly because healthy people are less anxious and hence disposed to appreciate jokes.
An Evolutionary Perspective on Positive Emotions
Authors: P. Kirsch Amanda , Langley Erika B. , Vornlocher Carley , Shiota Michelle N.
Published: May 2024

What does it mean to apply an evolutionary perspective to the study of positive emotions? This chapter addresses this question, both looking back at research informed by evolutionary theorizing and looking toward future advances. Although an evolutionary perspective is most explicitly invoked in theory and research on specific emotions, it also plays an important role in emphasizing dimensions of core affect and emotion-eliciting appraisals. The authors discuss why most early research focused on the adaptive value of negative emotions, and the changes that have led to growing interest in positive emotions. They provide an overview of the research addressing the adaptive functions of positive emotions, including examples from multiple emotion theories. Finally, they offer several suggestions for applying an evolutionary perspective to research on the positive emotions, considering advances in evolutionary biology, ethology, and neuroscience for what emotions are, how they work, and their implications in the modern world.
Fear
Authors: O’Connell Katherine , A. Rhoads Shawn , A. Marsh Abigail
Published: May 2024

Fear is the multimodal state that accompanies the anticipation of an imminent or predictable aversive outcome. This state promotes adaptive autonomic, behavioral, and cognitive responses such as avoidance, escape, and learning. Fear is essential to animal species’ survival, and as such is highly conserved, with the emergence of basic fear learning and responding dating back at least 700 million years. The adaptive significance of fear reflects its effects not only on physiology and behavior, but also on social outcomes. Across a wide range of species, fear can be socially communicated via visual, auditory, and chemical signals, which promote avoidance of threat and social learning in observers. In some social species, the communication of fear can also benefit expressers by inhibiting aggression and eliciting care from observers. This chapter reviews the evolutionary functions and neural circuitry of fear and its autonomic, behavioral, and communicative features.
Grief
Authors: Martin Heidi , Cronin Weisfeld Carol
Published: May 2024

Theories about grief include the stage theory of Kübler-Ross and the Parkes-Bowlby theory (based on attachment theory). While the former is not well supported by research, cross-cultural research affirms the latter. This chapter uses Tinbergen’s Four Questions to understand grief. Tinbergen’s questions explore two levels of proximate causation: ontogeny and immediate mechanisms such as learning; two additional levels describe evolutionary or more distal explanations: phylogenetic and evolutionary (functional) causation. Developmentally, behavioral characteristics of grief change over the human life span. Immediate causation for feeling grief is found in heightened autonomic nervous system arousal, and environmental inputs, such as degree of relatedness with the one lost. Phylogenetically, grief likely evolved in social species, such as humans and other primates, elephants, and domesticated dogs. Functionally, grief may be a byproduct of attachment; however, grief may serve other functions, such as encouraging protective parenting and compelling relatives to comfort the bereaved. Clinical applications are discussed.
A Socio-functional Perspective on Emotion and Cooperation
Authors: Guevara Beltran Diego , Shiota Michelle N. , Aktipis Athena
Published: May 2024

Humans sociality is inextricably linked to cooperation. The human life history required cooperation in the form of pair-bonding, alloparenting, intergenerational transfers of calories, and extensive food sharing among kin and non-kin. Cooperating to achieve mutual goals often led to better outcomes compared to uncoordinated individual efforts. However, avoiding exploitation was critical to managing the challenges of sociality. Building on a socio-functional perspective, this chapter summarizes evidence showcasing the role that emotion plays in guiding proximate mechanisms that facilitate cooperation or hinder competition through their effect on partner choice and relationship management. The authors further organize these emotions (e.g., compassion, sadness, gratitude, anger, shame, guilt) by their proposed interpersonal ultimate functions based on the ways in which they promote cooperation via (1) distinguishing high-value from low-value partners; (2) building and maintaining lasting cooperative relationships with valuable partners; and (3) identifying when to de-invest from or terminate existing relationships.
Are There Really So Many Moral Emotions?
Authors: Fitouchi Léo , André Jean-Baptiste , Baumard Nicolas
Published: May 2024

What role do emotions play in moral cognition? Leading accounts argue that a multiplicity of emotions, including guilt, outrage, shame, empathy, and even disgust, play an essential role in moral psychology. Here, this chapter argues that many of these emotions are only superficially associated with moral cognitive contents and adaptive challenges, and that only outrage and guilt rigorously qualify as moral emotions—that is, as computational systems that process distinctively moral representations. Outrage functions to reclaim benefits to which one is rightfully entitled; and guilt to compensate others for violations of one’s duties. Shame, by contrast, tracks representations of one’s social status, not representations of one’s moral obligations. Empathy, similarly, tracks cues of fitness-interdependence—an adaptive challenge that differs from, and in fact often contradicts, the respect of moral obligations. This chapter argues, finally, that both evolutionary rationales and psychological evidence for a role of disgust in moral cognition remain inconclusive for now.
Emotions and Olfaction
Authors: Schäfer Laura , Croy Ilona
Published: May 2024

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview linking the sense of smell to the field of emotion. The authors focus on the evolution of the olfactory system and its anatomical pathways, including overlapping structures with emotional processing circuits. The chapter proceeds with a detailed analysis of the functional relationship between olfaction and emotion based on the following topics: odors and leading emotional reactions; odors as chemosignals within social communication (focusing on a definition of chemosignals; chemosignals and emotional contagion; and chemosignals within intimate relationships); and odors as a basis for multisensory integration in the context of emotional processing. Throughout the chapter, the authors present a broad range of experimental studies including behavioral and neuroimaging investigations, as well as implications of research on patients with olfactory deficits.
Emotions and Intergroup Conflict
Authors: Kotoye Christian , McDonald Melissa M.
Published: May 2024

Historically, humans have lived in groups to promote survival and reproduction. However, group-based living has stimulated conflict between groups over various resources. These conflicts present a threat to the reproductive fitness, which is categorized and managed with appropriate behavioral responses. This chapter examines the role of emotions in this process. Emotions promote an adaptive response, by which their category and magnitude are calibrated to match the perceived threat. The self-protection and disease-avoidance threat-management systems use social-based emotional responses and their resulting behaviors to detect and respond to potential harm from conspecifics. This chapter also discusses the differences in responses to threats from out-group members and individual variation (e.g., strength, sex, health) which shapes the adaptive response. This model is integrated with research that has identified emotional interventions to reduce intergroup prejudice and discrimination.
Emotion and Women’s Intrasexual Mating Competition
Authors: Fisher Maryanne L.
Published: May 2024

Women compete with each other for access to mates who possess desirable qualities. This chapter addresses the emotional underpinnings of women’s intrasexual mating competition, and links emotional experiences with specific competitive situations. The emotional side of women’s intrasexual competition has rarely been studied, and consequently, much of this chapter is about setting the stage to explore what emotions are presumably experienced. The existing work focuses on experiences of anger, jealousy, and envy, usually within the context of imagining interactions with rivals, and thus, they are individually presented in light of past work. After reviewing the framework of competition, in terms of why women intrasexually compete for mates and the goal of this form of competition, the discussion moves to indirect aggression and then addresses each of these emotions in turn. The chapter ends with concrete suggestions for future research.
The Role of Emotion in Second- and Third-Party Punishment
Authors: Marshall Julia , McAuliffe Katherine
Published: May 2024

Punishment plays a key role in sustaining cooperation by promoting adherence to social norms. Forms of punishment can be organized into two categories: second-party punishment, wherein the punisher is the victim of a transgression; and third-party punishment, wherein the punisher is an uninvolved bystander who witnesses a transgression against someone else. Although empirical work has focused on punishment behavior across these contexts, such work has focused less on the emotional mechanisms supporting both types of punishment. In this chapter, the authors review work that has explored the emotional antecedents of both second- and third-party punishment. For example, the chapter reviews research finding that negative emotions, most notably anger, promote both forms of punishment. This review combines work from a range of methodological approaches, including behavioral studies and physiological methods, providing an integrative overview of the role of emotion in punishment.
Comparative Psychology of Frustrative Nonreward
Authors: Torres Carmen , R. Papini Mauricio
Published: May 2024

Research with mammals, including humans, shows that unexpected reward downshifts (omissions or reductions) can induce a negative emotional state, called frustrative nonreward, with behavioral, physiological, neurochemical, and molecular consequences. The successive negative contrast (SNC) task has been extensively used to study the effects of reward downshift. In SNC, a downshift from large to small rewards leads to a transient suppression of behavior compared to controls always exposed to small rewards. Behavioral suppression is accompanied by the release of stress hormones, ameliorated by anxiolytics and analgesics, reduced by lesions of the amygdala, and enhanced by lesions to the anterior cingulate cortex. Unlike mammals, other vertebrates exposed to reward downshifts tend to exhibit a gradual adjustment to the small reward, an effect called reversed SNC. This research is leading to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and consequences of frustrative nonreward, including its effects on health and well-being in humans.
Emotions in Dogs
Authors: V. Kujala Miiamaaria , Bräuer Juliane
Published: May 2024

Domestic dog, Canis familiaris, is called “human’s best friend”: dogs are everywhere in the Western societies, and over 470 million dogs are kept as pets worldwide. But what are the social and emotional properties of dogs that enable such an affectionate friendship bond across species? During their domestication 14,000–30,000 years ago, dogs have undergone selective changes and developed behavioral skills that enable them to better function in human social groups. Humans and dogs share some basic emotional functionality of the nervous systems, which aids in interspecies interaction. Dogs have positive and negative affective states, with most research conducted on fear, anger/aggressiveness, reward-processing and joy. Still, dogs are not four-legged, nonverbal humans. In the light of scientific results, canine capability for social emotions such as guilt or jealousy appears limited. Dogs understand human behavior from a dog’s point of view, and humans understand dogs from a human’s point of view.
The Emergence of Emotionally Modern Humans
Authors: Blaffer Hrdy Sarah , M. Burkart Judith
Published: May 2024

According to the Cooperative Breeding Hypothesis, apes with the life history attributes of those in the line leading to the genus Homo could not have evolved unless male and female allomothers had begun to help mothers care for and provision offspring. As proposed elsewhere, the unusual way hominins reared their young generated novel phenotypes subsequently subjected to Darwinian social selection, favoring those young apes best at monitoring the intentions, mental states, and preferences of others and most motivated to attract and appeal to caretakers. Not only were youngsters acquiring information in different social contexts than other apes, but they would also have been emotionally and neurophysiologically different from them in ways that are relevant to how humans learn. Contingently delivered rewards to dependents who attracted and ingratiated themselves with allomothers shaped their behaviors and vocalizations and transformed the way developing youngsters learned from others and internalized their preferences.
Emotional Vigilance
Authors: Dezecache Guillaume , Mercier Hugo
Published: May 2024

Although emotional displays have long been considered mere read-outs of the affective state of agents, recent studies and modern evolutionary thinking instead suggest that they should be characterized as proper communicative signals. This implies that emotional displays have evolved to be used strategically, to serve the senders’ interests. However, for these signals to be stable, they must also benefit receivers. What guarantees that emotional signals are beneficial for both emitters and observers? In this chapter, the authors review evidence showing that humans are equipped with mechanisms that evolved to evaluate emotional displays and their sources, so as to minimize the risk of being fooled. They term these mechanisms “emotional vigilance,” following the “epistemic vigilance” mechanisms used in ostensive communication. Emotional vigilance, the authors argue, is part of the human cognitive makeup, and they outline empirical avenues to best elucidate its features.
Emotions across Cultures
Authors: G. Kamiloğlu Roza , Cong YongQi , Sun Rui , A. Sauter Disa
Published: May 2024

What can evolutionary theories reveal about emotions, and how can research on emotions inform evolutionary theories? This chapter discusses links between evolutionary theories of emotion and the cross-cultural study of emotion. In particular, the authors emphasize the notion that evolved psychological mechanisms result in cultural differences instantiated as variations on common themes of human universals. They focus on two components of emotions: emotion experience and nonverbal expressions. Several case studies from emotion science are outlined to illustrate this framework empirically. In the domain of emotion experience, they highlight shame as an illustration of the idea of variations occurring across cultures around a common theme. In the domain of nonverbal expression of emotion, this idea is illustrated by the in-group advantage, that is, superior recognition of emotional expressions produced by members of one’s own group. Lastly, they review three different theoretical accounts of how to conceptualize cross-culturally shared themes underlying emotions.
Anxiety and Phobias
Authors: Kennair Leif Edward Ottesen , Lindner Miriam , Hagen Kristen , Mjøen Larsen Simen
Published: May 2024

Anxiety is an exaggerated fear-like response to experienced threat. Several different subtypes of anxiety disorders exist, with emphasis on the specific triggers, stimuli, and situations that the patient will avoid and typical safety behaviors that are employed to reduce the experienced threat. The development of anxiety, once considered to be best described by associative theories, has a clear non-associative element. Over the years, efficient treatment of anxiety has developed from exposure and response-prevention interventions, to encompass more cognitive and metacognitive methods. While several adaptive and evolutionary-based explanations for anxiety disorders have been proposed, this chapter suggests that none of these current theories is convincing: fear of actual danger or threats is adaptive, anxiety disorders are probably not. The chapter discusses evolutionary approaches to the development of different anxiety disorders and their maintenance, considers existing evidence for the potential adaptive value of anxiety disorders, and presents new research from the treatment of specific anxiety disorders.
Evolutionary Perspectives on Eating Disorders
Authors: Abed Riadh
Published: May 2024

Eating disorders (primarily anorexia and bulimia nervosa) are of particular interest to evolutionists for a number of reasons. These include the claim that they are evolutionarily novel, that they have increased in prevalence in developed countries in recent decades, their large female preponderance, and the fact that they have the highest risk of mortality of any psychiatric disorder. These, have led to a proliferation of theoretical etiological models. Some of these features increase the possibility that evolutionary approaches dealing with ultimate causation may facilitate our understanding of proximate causes. A review of the current evolutionary literature suggests that the sexual competition hypothesis has, so far, had the strongest empirical support from clinical and nonclinical studies. While other evolutionary theories focus on anorexia nervosa, the sexual competition hypothesis offers an explanation for both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and also explains the specific presentations of eating disorders in males.
Addiction and Substance Use
Authors: Durrant Russil
Published: May 2024

A number of evolutionary explanations for substance use and addiction have been advanced, with much of the debate centered on whether humans have evolved specific adaptations for drug use, or whether it is better to conceptualize the human attraction to psychoactive substances as reflecting their action on more domain-general motivational and emotional systems that have evolved for other purposes. This chapter reviews evolutionary approaches to understanding drug use and addiction, arguing that extant approaches fail to fully account for the heterogenous nature of substance use and the range of effects that drugs have on users. To more clearly conceptualize substance-using behavior, the author argues that one needs to consider how drugs affect different motivational and emotional systems. This approach can account for the diverse nature of drug-using experiences, and can also provide insights into how drug use and addiction varies by age, gender, and other individual characteristics.
An Evolutionary Approach to Emotional Difficulties in Borderline Personality Disorder
Authors: Ian Reed Lawrence , Cooley Cameryn , Okun Sara
Published: May 2024

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) represents a pervasive personality pathology characterized by emotional dysregulation leading to signs and symptoms such as impulsivity, behavioral dysregulation, and interpersonal hypersensitivity. This chapter describes how emotions and emotional processes are central to borderline pathology and how current evolutionary accounts of emotions can shed light on the disorder. First, the authors provide a definition of BPD and its diagnostic criteria as reflected in the DSM-5, emphasizing the centrality of emotion, followed by an evolutionary explanation of emotions that contextualize evolutionary approaches to the emotional vulnerability and dysregulation characteristic of BPD. They then present attachment theory and life history theory as two middle-level explanations of BPD within the context of the DSM-5 definition and clinical formulations of borderline pathology. The chapter concludes with a summary of each approach and the potential they bring toward a clearer understanding of BPD and psychopathology in general.
Rethinking the Neurodiversity Debate from the Harmful Dysfunction Perspective
Authors: Conrad Jordan A. , Wakefield Jerome C.
Published: May 2024

Neurodiversity advocates argue that psychiatry mistakenly classifies certain normal psychological variations as mental disorders. These arguments raise fundamental issues about psychiatric diagnosis and classification and tend to be broadly revisionist in claiming that entire DSM categories are in fact normal “neurodiverse” conditions. This chapter evaluates these arguments within the framework of Jerome Wakefield’s evolutionary “harmful dysfunction analysis” of mental disorder and with a focus on disorders involving the expression of emotion. The authors argue that the considerable heterogeneity of most DSM categories suggests the likelihood that each category is a mix of true disorders caused by dysfunctions and miscategorized normal neurodiversity. They explore several standard DSM categories, each of which has implications for emotional processes, including psychopathy, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autistic spectrum disorder, to illustrate how heterogeneity can both warrant and limit neurodiversity claims.
Shame
Authors: Landers Mitchell , Sznycer Daniel , Al-Shawaf Laith
Published: May 2024

A central adaptive problem for human ancestors was the potential or actual spread of reputationally damaging information about the self—information that would decrease the inclination of other group members to render assistance. The emotion of shame appears to be the solution engineered by natural selection to defend against this threat. The existing evidence suggests that shame is a neurocomputational program that orchestrates various elements of the cognitive architecture in the service of deterring the individual from making choices wherein the personal benefits are exceeded by the prospective costs of being devalued by others; preventing negative information about the self from reaching others; and minimizing the adverse effects of social devaluation when it occurs. While shame, like pain, causes personal suffering and sometimes leads to hostile behavior, an evolutionary psychological analysis suggests the shame system is elegantly designed to deter injurious choices and make the best of a bad situation.
The Context of Indigenous Participation in Archaeology in Mexico
Authors: Lizama-Aranda Lilia , Rogers William A. , Herrera José Israel
Published: May 2024

This chapter discusses the private sphere in heritage conservation and the Indigenous communities having a place in the protection, use, and conservation of Mexico’s patrimonial heritage. The authors explore the definition of the term “Indigenous,” the identification, recognition, and treatment of the Indigenous, as well as the Indigenous relationship with Mexico’s constitution. The chapter examines the corresponding federal law of heritage that governs archaeology and its relationship with Indigenous people and their social participation. It discusses in detail the ownership of national assets and what is understood to be archaeological patrimony. Education and literacy among the Indigenous population are brought up in the context of social and economic disparities among the general population. The chapter provides a reference for academia and legislators to consider opening their doors wider for a more inclusive and balanced social participation, with an emphasis on the inclusion of Indigenous participation in archaeology. An important secondary goal is to allow the economy to grow within Mexico’s archaeological, anthropological, and related fields.
Fish Traps, Seed-Grinding and Food Stores
Authors: Kerkhove Ray C. , Silcock Jennifer L. , Williams Douglas , Kotarba-Morley Ania , Keenan-Jones Duncan , Wright Nathan J. , Morley Mike W. , Gorringe Joshua , Scholz Glen , Lowe Kelsey M. , Cemre Üstünkaya M. , Stephens Samantha , Moss Patrick T. , Westaway Michael C.
Published: May 2024

Over the last decade of Australian archaeology there has been a notable absence of studies of Aboriginal social and economic systems on a regional scale, due in part to preference for generic modeling incorporating metadata. Such broad narratives generated by meta-data models and use of carbon dates as proxies for understanding demographic transitions can gloss over important local dynamics and details. In this study, the authors employed a regional approach to assess Australian Aboriginal food production systems. They combined early ethnographic observations with available archaeological evidence to reconstruct Mithaka economies, especially pertaining to fish traps, water management, fishing, and utilization of seeding grasses. These specific activities were targeted as being central to current debates on Australian Aboriginal food production systems. The ethnohistoric record was found to support a model of the Mithaka and their neighbors being considerably less mobile than previously assumed, concentrating on permanent waterholes especially during dry periods. The study revealed an economy uniquely adapted to the region’s “boom and bust” ecology. It was dominated by the construction and use of gigantic nets, fish traps, long-distance trade, and the processing and storage of “preserves.” On the basis of this case study, the authors propose methodologies for further archaeological investigation that could inform the “Dark Emu” debate that is currently prevalent in interpreting Australia’s deep past.
Remote Sensing and Artificial Intelligence for Mountain Archaeology
Authors: Magnini Luigi , De Guio Armando , Bettineschi Cinzia
Published: May 2024

This chapter will focus on state-of-the-art applications of remote sensing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the archaeological investigation of the mountain environment. It will provide introductory knowledge on the most relevant passive and active sensors mounted on drone, aerial, and satellite platforms. Particularly, the chapter will consider visible RGB photography, multi- and hyperspectral imaging, LiDAR data and visualizations, and Synthetic Aperture Radar. After a general introduction on the principles of earth observation, the major challenges of its application in montane regions will be thoroughly discussed, including high gradients and rugged morphology, dense afforestation, remoteness, weather conditions, and climate change. Moreover, a general overview and critical assessment of automated image-classification techniques and AI approaches employed in mountain archaeology will be provided. By scrutinizing these methodologies, the chapter aims to discern the most promising trends that hold significant potential for shaping the future of archaeological investigations in mountainous terrains. Through this exploration, readers will gain insights into the evolving synergy between remote sensing, AI, and mountain archaeology, paving the way for advancements and innovations in this interdisciplinary field.
Mediated Community Singing
Authors: Morgan-Ellis Esther M.
Published: May 2024

Audiovisual and broadcast media have been used to facilitate participatory singing since the early 20th century. In the 21st century—and especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic—they have become increasingly integral to a wide array of participatory singing practices. Any form of community singing that relies on audiovisual or broadcast media can be described as “mediated community singing.” In most cases, mediation separates participants from one another in time and space, and immersion in the experience requires participants to imagine one another and the singing community. A distinction can be drawn between in-person communities that employ media to facilitate their singing activities and dispersed communities that can only convene via mediation. Chapters in this section consider a range of mediated singing experiences spanning two centuries.
Brigadoon in the Heights
Authors: McPherson Eve
Published: May 2024

Since the mid-2000s, community members have gathered annually in a middle-class Ohio suburban home to sing. Like the mythical community of Brigadoon, this gathering is fleeting. Also as in Brigadoon, participation transports singers, although this transportation is nostalgic rather than magical. Every year, participants of the “Sing Along” submit a song to organizers and, when the group gathers, explain the song’s personal value and associated memory. The group then communally sings it. Participants are thus tasked to consciously display aspects of identity through song choice. Most songs reflect a personal relationship with various leftist political causes. Additionally, the Sing Along always includes pieces selected by the organizer that are specifically intended to celebrate leftist ideology. In this way, the Sing Along entwines the personal and the political through unison singing and intimately bonds its community of singers. It is a ritual of existential communitas that functions to foster continued activism in a community that sees itself as progressive and leftist. This chapter examines the Sing Along’s origins, ritual structuring, expressive framework, and the values it asks participants to embrace through voices joined in song.
Songs of Diversity
Authors: Birch Catherine , Currie Ruth , Dawson Wayne , Clift Stephen
Published: May 2024

The chapter presents insights from three case studies of different community singing initiatives in the United Kingdom: a singing group in a women’s prison, a singing group that is part of a community music organization, and an LGBTQ+ choir. These qualitative, culturally, and contextually specific accounts are framed in the context of a wider literature on singing and well-being that adopts the more positivistic, standardized procedures of structured surveys and controlled experimental evaluations. It is argued that individual case studies are particularly valuable for the insights they provide into the particularities of individuals, projects, and music-making, with special reference to a chosen repertoire of songs, including those composed specifically to address challenges of identity and well-being specific to the groups involved. The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the opportunities for learning that come from discussion across case studies. This is done in recognition of knowledge-exchange as a process of evaluation, situating case studies as a methodological tool that goes beyond evidencing the positive change experiences of participating in community singing.
Peace and Harmony Prevailing
Authors: Schaeffer Andrew
Published: May 2024

If one were to visit a Masonic lodge, they might be surprised to find a piano or pipe organ, and a cabinet—likely coated with a layer of dust—containing old songbooks such as The Masonic Harp (1858) or Holden’s Sacred Music for Men’s Voices for Masonic Use (1893), which serve as artifacts of a largely bygone era of Masonic communal singing. From its arrival in the United States in the 17th century through the present day, Freemasonry has been compelled to respond to a shifting religious landscape in the United States and a continuing redefinition of masculinity itself. From the primitive, lighthearted odes that filled English taverns in the 17th century to the dignified hymns and anthems of the late 19th century, Masonic song has served as a microcosm of these currents, changing to reflect the evolving needs and morals of the fraternity. Despite these changes, the mission of Masonic singing remains constant: to harness the power of community and to enrich the many rituals that form the core of the organization. Through the analysis of Masonic songbooks from varying eras and regions, this study traces the origins of Masonic song through present-day application. Though Freemasonry is composed of a complex, world-wide network of organizations, each with its own tradition of singing, this study focuses specifically on blue lodge Masonic singing in the United States.
Estonian Singing Traditions as an Impetus for Community Building and Expressing Estonian Cultural Heritage in Australia
Authors: Cooper Naomi
Published: May 2024

This chapter examines how singing traditions from Estonia have inspired the creation of a community of singers in Australia, strengthened connections within the Estonian Australian community, and allowed Estonian Australians to express and share their cultural heritage locally and overseas. Choral singing has long been part of Estonian culture, and the Singing Revolution (1986–1991) saw Estonians sing their way to independence from the Soviet Union. Laulupidu (f. 1869) is a large choral festival in Tallin that holds special significance for Estonian people. Many Estonians fleeing Soviet and German occupation during World War II settled in Australia, and the choral traditions associated with Laulupidu came with the diaspora. A small group of Estonian Australians aspired to perform at Laulupidu and so established the Kooskõlas community choir, a Sydney group that auditioned for and performed at the festival in 2014. Kooskõlas re-formed in 2017, expanding into a nationwide choir, and 70 singers from five Australian states performed at the next Laulupidu in 2019. These successes have had a resounding impact, enabling interstate community connections and new opportunities for Estonian cultural expression across a large country, with the nationwide choir continuing in an ongoing capacity beyond the scope of the original Laulupidu project.
Capitalism by Any Other Name(s)
Authors: Scarborough Isaac McKean
Published: May 2024

When the Soviet Union disintegrated in December 1991, so did its economy, leaving behind 15 successor states and a variety of economic models. Part of the reason for the economic disparity among the Soviet vestiges was the fact that economic reform had proceeded inconsistently before 1991, as market elements slowly and then rapidly—if sometimes haphazardly—moved into economic sectors and cities after 1985. These market elements and the reforms that legalized them, moreover, were built on a long-standing debate in Soviet economics about the place of market mechanisms in the command economy, a debate that remained unresolved in 1991. Yet even at the point of the collapse of the USSR and its economic system, this debate continued, as late Soviet republican governments took different approaches to balancing marketization with the markedly socialist expectations of their populaces and bureaucrats. Considering the economic reforms and background debates occurring in Moscow and elsewhere in the USSR both after Mikhail Gorbachev’s ascent to power 1985 and before perestroika, this chapter considers how markets went from being an unspeakable word that had to be disguised with aphorisms to an ideal to be achieved.
Illiberalism in the Global South and the Rise of China and Russia
Authors: Marat Erica
Published: May 2024

Illiberal governance is on the rise across the globe. In parallel, China and Russia are increasing their investments and political presence in many countries. This chapter argues that both actors are leveraging existing illiberal trends in the Global South to expand their global reach. The chapter focuses on three countries—Brazil, South Africa, and Pakistan—to demonstrate how the rise of domestic illiberalism, fueled by polarized politics, corruption, and an appeal to traditional values, has turned both China and Russia into attractive international partners in otherwise pro-Western and democratic countries of the Global South. Aggressive plans for economic growth in these countries have been fueled in part by their leaders’ personal ambitions for consolidating power. Particularly appealing are China’s one-party political system, responsible for the country’s economic growth, and Beijing’s investment in large infrastructure projects, as well as Russia’s positioning of the Orthodox Church at the center of domestic politics and its Soviet-era ties with the Global South.
Machine Learning in Medical Systems
Authors: Hu Wanheng
Published: May 2024

Medicine and healthcare are crucial areas in the application of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). While ML promises to revolutionize healthcare, it also raises various social, ethical, and regulatory issues as well as novel sociological questions. This chapter sets a sociological agenda on ML in medical systems. After briefly explaining the ML applications in medicine and their practical concerns, it reviews how scholars in medical sociology, science and technology studies, critical data studies, and relevant fields have begun to study this topic. Five key themes are highlighted: imaginaries and expectations, politics of digital health data, algorithmic knowledge production, medical ML systems at work, and governance and ethics. All these areas have important practical implications and considerable potential for further research. Finally, the chapter draws upon the case of the Chinese medical AI industry to emphasize the importance of local contexts and nuances for the sociological agenda.
Machine Learning in the Arts and Cultural and Creative Industries
Authors: Dzhimova Mariya
Published: May 2024

The increasing use of machine learning (ML) algorithms in arts and culture is transforming and reorganizing its practices, processes, and structures. These socio-technical changes can be observed along the entire value chain, from the creation of culture and art to its production, mediation, and distribution. First, this chapter aims to provide an overview of the different fields of application of ML technologies in the arts as well as in the cultural and creative industries by highlighting relevant issues, themes, and research questions that arise from these applications for the sociology of art in particular and for sociology in general. Second, the chapter focuses on a specific case—namely, the use of ML in artistic practice within the visual arts—by addressing the issue of agency. Finally, the chapter aims to provide an outlook for future sociological research on the adoption of ML in the arts and cultural sector as well as in society.
Declarations of Independence and the Law of Nations
Authors: Armitage David
Published: May 2024

Declarations of independence—documents in which new or restored sovereignties are announced to the international community—are among the most enduring and widespread instruments of international law. Over the past two and a half centuries, hundreds of such declarations have appeared from every continent except Antarctica and more than half of the member States of the United Nations possess at least one such foundational document. This chapter argues for the distinctiveness of these declarations’ origins in the Americas: that is, North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. It concludes that more than any other instruments of international law, declarations of independence deserve to be seen as “American” in this enlarged sense, even as they have gone global in the decades since their invention after 1776.
Movement Lessons at Standing Rock
Authors: Houska Tara
Published: May 2024

In 2016, a group of young Native Americans from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation started an encampment on federal lands to protest the construction of a pipeline intended to transport shale oil from North Dakota to Illinois, Texas, and beyond. The movement would capture the world’s attention, bring a great many Indigenous peoples and their allies together into a wide range of camps, and start a broader social movement. This is a personal reflection upon life in one of the many protest camps, including the decision-making among the tribal leaders and other stakeholders and the heavy-handed way in which the police (and other security actors) responded to the camp to enforce corporate interests over those of environmental and Indigenous rights.