The target article argues that whole groups can act as interactors in an evolutionary process. We believe that Smaldino's discussion would be advanced by a more thorough analysis of the appropriate replicators and lineages for this model. We show that cultural evolution is necessarily a separate process from cultural group selection, and we also illustrate that the two processes may influence e...

This paper examines the cultural safety offered to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students within their university environments. In the context of this paper, cultural safety includes cultural competency, as recently subscribed by Universities Australia, and ‘extends beyond (to) cultural awareness and cultural sensitivity’ (Bin Sellik, 2003, p. 210) and includes putting in pla...

• This paper aims to explore social inequalities in school achievement and educational decision-making of the final-year students of secondary schools in the City of Zagreb and Zagreb County, Croatia (N = 534). The theoretical framework of the paper was Bourdieu’s theory of cultural and social reproduction (1977a). The main objectives were an analysis of the association between the students’ cu...

Health, as a general topic and as one of the principle human requirements in all societies, recently has been apt to great environmental and social changes. So as the aforementioned societies depending on their facilities, and development in economics and human well-being, go through different stages of epidemiological transition and in each phase of this transition will face various necessitie...

The transition to agriculture was a key event in human history. The extent to which this transition is associated with biological changes in different world regions remains debated. Cultural and osteological records in Lower Nubia throughout the Holocene have been interpreted as a result of in situ differentiation or alternatively as migratory events and possible admixture with surrounding popu...

The term “taphonomy” was originally defined by paleontologist I.A. Efremov in 1940 as “the study of the transition (in all its details) of animal remains from the biosphere into the lithosphere”. The term evolved to include plant remains because Efremov also indicated that taphonomy concerned the “transition from the biosphere to the lithosphere”. The concept and the term were both adopted by z...

Technology has driven the development of interaction with an emphasis on creating spaces, objects and information which can draw audiences into innovative and entertaining realms. This development can be seen increasingly within the domain of cultural institutions, as new media artefacts start to permeate libraries, galleries and museums. However, questions remain as to whether the postmodern c...

It is argued that cultural processes linked to the demographic transition produce new density-dependent fertility dynamics. In particular, childbearing becomes dependent upon residential roominess. This relationship is culturally specific, and that the cultural nature of this relationship means that professional and managerial classes are likely to be particularly influenced by residential room...

This paper studies the transition of contract enforcement institutions. The prevalence of relational contracts, low legal quality, strong cultural preference for personalistic relationships, low social mobility, and highly unequal endowment form a cluster of mutually reinforcing institutions that hinder economic development. The cultural element per se does not necessarily reduce social welfare...

This paper argues that the economics of the family can be much enriched by incorporating recent developments in evolutionary biology, animal behavior studies, cultural evolution, anthropology, and game theory. Evolutionary foundations of sympathy between relatives are explored. Applications of the theory of cultural evolution to the demographic transition and to wealth transfers between generat...