In this text Boulding draws on a lifetime of study and experience to develop general theory of human social evolution.
Humans understand the universe in terms of patterns.
Boulding argues that human social evolution can be understood as the evolution of human artifacts. Human social evolution occurs against a background of physical and biological evolution. The first five chapters of Ecodynamics are devoted to examining the physical processes which set the stage for life to develop, and the biological processes by which species, including the human species, developed. Chapters Six through Nine investigate societal evolution through the evolution of human artifacts. If evolution is understood as changing patterns, then the main patterns to examine in societal evolution are the patterns of social organization.