On the Limits of Social Ecological Explanations in Comparative Research

Abstract

"The central problem of social ecological theory is to understand how a population organizes itself in adapting to a constantly changing yet restricting environment. The 'ecological complex' (Duncan 1959) of population, organization, technology and environment are the main variables used in the studies of growth and development of social systems. A social ecological population with a common culture. It is clearly a non-actor system. Only rarely will one find coincidence of the boundaries of responsibility for a state and the boundaries of a culture."