-0 Decades of a New Paradigm

This book is a collection of state-of-the-art empirical studies in a paradigm that has become known as human behavioral ecology. The emergence of this approach in aiithropology was marked by the publication in 1979 of another collection of studies entitled Evolritionai-j- Biology arid Hitiiiun Social Behavioi-: Aii Ar.itl.rropo-logiciil Per-specriw (Chagnon and Irons 1979). During the two decades that have passed since then, the approach has matured and expanded into new areas. This chapter describes the origins of the approach, its early reception, and its subse-quent development. We use the phrase “human behavioral ecology ” chiefly because i t is the label used most often by those doing similar work on nonhumans, thereby accentuating the fact that this approach has its roots in animal behavior studies or ethology. It also has the advantage of avoiding notions of genetic deterininism that are com-monly (though mistakenly) associated with the term “sociobiology. ” In addition, i t serves to differentiate this approach from other, complementary approaches such as evolutionary psychology and cultural transmission theory (see Smith