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Meeting at Grand Central: Understanding the Social and Evolutionary Roots of Cooperation
Contributor(s): Cronk, Lee (Author), Leech, Beth L. (Author)
ISBN: 0691154953     ISBN-13: 9780691154954
Publisher: Princeton University Press
OUR PRICE:   $41.58  
Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats
Published: October 2012
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Anthropology - General
- Social Science | Sociology - General
- Science | Life Sciences - Evolution
Dewey: 303.3
LCCN: 2012015008
Physical Information: 1" H x 6.1" W x 9.3" (1.10 lbs) 264 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
From the family to the workplace to the marketplace, every facet of our lives is shaped by cooperative interactions. Yet everywhere we look, we are confronted by proof of how difficult cooperation can be--snarled traffic, polarized politics, overexploited resources, social problems that go
ignored. The benefits to oneself of a free ride on the efforts of others mean that collective goals often are not met. But compared to most other species, people actually cooperate a great deal. Meeting at Grand Central brings together insights from evolutionary biology, political science,
economics, anthropology, and other fields to explain how the interactions between our evolved selves and the institutional structures we have created make cooperation possible. The book begins with a look at the ideas of Mancur Olson and George Williams, who shifted the question of why cooperation
happens from an emphasis on group benefits to individual costs. It then explores how these ideas have influenced our thinking about cooperation, coordination, and collective action. The book persuasively argues that cooperation and its failures are best explained by evolutionary and social theories
working together. Selection sometimes favors cooperative tendencies, while institutions, norms, and incentives encourage and make possible actual cooperation.Meeting at Grand Central will inspire researchers from different disciplines and intellectual traditions to share ideas and advance our
understanding of cooperative behavior in a world that is more complex than ever before.