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Call for Papers 
for the 1999 History and Theory Theme Issue 
The Return of Science: Evolutionary Ideas and History 
 
>From roughly the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, triumphs of 
the natural sciences often inspired philosophers of history to adopt 
naturalistic concepts and paradigms. Variations on Darwinian themes had an 
especially great impact. However, shortly after the middle of the twentieth 
century the natural sciences lost influence, whether as models for 
historians or as the bases for philosophies of history. Recently, however, 
the atmosphere has palpably changed. Many scholars have begun to use 
analogues of evolutionary ideas such as the notion of "cultural selection" 
in history. Refurbished evolutionary concepts are now challenging some of 
the orthodoxies hostile to the natural sciences that emerged after the 
successful assault on positivism in the discipline of history and in other 
social sciences. 
 
We propose a theme issue of History and Theory that would encourage 
scholars from a wide variety of disciplines to put evolutionary theory in 
history to the question. It behooves practicing historians to ask if 
notions of cultural ecologies and cultural selection merit serious 
consideration. Especially controversial are the sociobiological arguments 
that link the structure of social organization or ethics to evolutionary 
and biological mechanisms. To what extent are historical cultures and forms 
of social organization products of evolutionary forces? Questions also run 
in the opposite direction. How much do current cultural and social trends 
affect evolutionary thinking? Does the revival of evolutionary thought 
reflect anxiety about the crossing of racial, gender, and other social and 
cultural boundaries? To what extent is it stimulated by a desire to promote 
the idea of a common human origin? Is heightened awareness of evolution 
connected to public interest in genetic engineering, DNA testing, the 
genome project, and anxiety about epidemics? 
 
We also want to examine how historians have used evolutionary concepts with 
interesting consequences. Finally, and crucially, we seek new applications 
or reflections on the application of evolutionary concepts in historical 
case studies, and to explore the prospects for evolutionary ideas among 
practicing historians. 
 
All submissions should conform to the History and Theory style sheet 
(available on request or on our website: 
www.wesleyan.edu/histjrnl/hthome.htm) and be no more than 9,000 words. They 
should be sent to: 
 
Julia Perkins 
Administrative Editor 
History and Theory 
Wesleyan Station 
Middletown, CT 06459-0507  U.S.A. 
 
The deadline for submissions is January 15, 1999. 
 
Julia Perkins 
Administrative Editor 
History and Theory 
Wesleyan Station 
Middletown, CT  06459-0507 
U.S.A. 
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Tel: 860 685 3292 
Fax: 860 685 2491 
http://www.wesleyan.edu/histjrnl/hthome.htm 
 
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