Abstract
The causes of socioeconomic inequality have been debated since the time of Plato. Many reasons for the development of stratification have been proposed, from the need for hierarchical control over large-scale irrigation systems to the accumulation of small differences in wealth over time via inheritance processes. However, none of these explains how unequal societies came to completely displace egalitarian cultural norms over time. Our study models demographic consequences associated with the unequal distribution of resources in stratified societies. Agent-based simulation results show that in constant environments, unequal access to resources can be demographically destabilizing, resulting in the outward migration and spread of such societies even when population size is relatively small. In variable environments, stratified societies spread more and are also better able to survive resource shortages by sequestering mortality in the lower classes. The predictions of our simulation are provided modest support by a range of existing empirical studies. In short, the fact that stratified societies today vastly outnumber egalitarian societies may not be due to the transformation of egalitarian norms and structures, but may instead reflect the more rapid migration of stratified societies and consequent conquest or displacement of egalitarian societies over time.
Highlights
Inequalities in socioeconomic status are increasing sharply within and between societies [1,2,3]
Our simulation results support the hypothesis that socioeconomic stratification may have spread due to its effects on the demography of small groups—i.e. by demic diffusion—rather than cultural adoption
While demic diffusion has already been indicated as a mechanism for the displacement of hunter-gatherers by more rapidly-growing agricultural populations [34,35,36], we do not specify differences in mode of subsistence, and the demic diffusion shown in our model is based not on population expansion but rather on migration due to population instability
Summary
Inequalities in socioeconomic status are increasing sharply within and between societies [1,2,3]. Human societies have not always been stratified. One of the central adaptations during the course of human evolution may have been the suppression of older dominance instincts through the enforcement of these egalitarian cultural norms [6]. Whether or not this was the case, it is generally accepted that early societies were less complex and more equal than societies arising over the past 10,000 years [7]
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