================== HES POSTING ======================= 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. [log in to unmask] Tel: 860 685 3292 Fax: 860 685 2491 http://www.wesleyan.edu/histjrnl/hthome.htm ============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]