Research
Academic Talks
Lectures, conference presentations, seminars, and recorded discussions of Peter Turchin’s research.
CCS 26 Keynote : The Great Holocene Transformation
During the Holocene the scale and complexity of human societies increased dramatically. Generations of scholars have proposed different theories explaining this evolution, which range from functionalist explanations, focusing on the provision of public goods, to conflict theories, emphasizing the role of internal class struggle or external warfare.…
Peter Turchin - The Holoscene Transformation
The Great Holocene Transformation What Complexity Science Tells Us about the Evolution of Complex Societies?
Cliodynamics Of End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites And The Path Of Political Disintegration
Social and political turbulence in the United States and Western European countries has been rising over the past decade. Our research, which combines analysis of historical data with the tools of complexity science, has identified the deep structural forces that work to undermine societal stability and resilience to internal and external shocks.…
Peter Turchin: End Times
The lessons of world history are clear, Turchin argues: when the equilibrium between ruling elites and the majority tips too far in favour of elites, political instability is all but inevitable.…
Peter Turchin on End Times: Counter-Elites and the Path of Political Disintegration
What factors drive political turmoil and societal breakdown? How do elites sustain their dominance, and why do ruling classes occasionally lose their hold on power? Peter Turchin, an expert in researching the origins of political instability, uncovers a recurring trend.…
How do elites pave the way for social decay? | Peter Turchin x Brain Bar
One of Brain Bar 2023’s most thought-provoking talks was Oxford complexity scientist Peter Turchin’s. When Peter looks at history, he sees not significant dates, great heroes, or memorable events but trends, repetitions, and mathematical rationale. What causes civilizations to fall apart?…
Peter Turchin, Cliodynamics: History as Science
Peter Turchin, Cliodynamics: History as Science Presented to the 2023 IBHA Conference https://bighistory.org/
Peter Turchin The cliodynamics of End Times
Social and political turbulence in the United States and Western European countries has been rising over the past decade. My research, which combines analysis of historical data with the tools of complexity science, has identified the deep structural forces that work to undermine societal stability and resilience to internal and external shocks.…
Peter Turchin on Cultural Macroevolution
Peter Turchin from Complexity Science Hub–Vienna presenting his paper Cultural Macroevolution: Understanding the rise of large-scale complex societies in human history. During the Holocene the scale and complexity of human societies increased dramatically.…
Expanding Scale of Human Society
Central to our mission at Science of the Noosphere is an exploration of the modern scientific perspective on how the noosphere evolved and expanded over time, from its origins in small paleolithic human groups to our emerging global civilization.…
Peter Turchin and Dan Hoyer: “The History of the Near Future”; Disrupting Politics Conference Day 1
Peter Turchin and Dan Hoyer speak about the Age of Discord Democracies: Failing Systems or Renewable? We will kickoff our Disrupting Politics Conference on the 22nd of September with a number of amazing guests! Not only will we talk about current shortcomings of our democratic system but we will also shed light on political innovations, such as “Liquid…
Cultural macroevolution: Understanding the rise of large-scale complex societies in human history
Quantitative History Webinar Series - Cultural macroevolution: Understanding the rise of large-scale complex societies in human history Speaker: Peter Turchin Project Leader and Professor Complexity Science Hub Vienna and University of Connecticut Over the past 10,000 years, human societies evolved from “simple”—small egalitarian groups, integrated by…
A History of Possible Futures: What history tells us about our Age of Discord CCS 2020
Social and political turbulence in the United States and a number of European countries has been rising in recent years. My research, which combines analysis of historical data with the tools of complexity science, has identified the deep structural forces that work to undermine societal stability and resilience to internal and external shocks.…
A History of the Near Future: What history tells us about our Age of Discord
Social and political turbulence in the United States and a number of European countries has been rising in recent years. My research, which combines analysis of historical data with the tools of complexity science, has identified the deep structural forces that work to undermine societal stability and resilience to internal and external shocks.…
This View of History: A Conversation With Peter Turchin
This webinar features evolutionary anthropologist and author Peter Turchin discussing his new book “Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth“.…
Ages of discord - Peter Turchin
Peter Turchin discusses ages of discord at Envision Conference 2017
Quantifying the Evolution of Social Complexity with Seshat: Global History Databank
I will present preliminary results of analyzing social complexity data in Seshat: Global History Databank. “Social complexity” has many dimensions, such as social scale, hierarchical organization, governance structures, provision of public goods, and capacity to cumulate and process information.…
Peter Turchin - Beyond Belief
Peter Turchin is Professor of Ecology and Mathematics at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of more than 100 articles including ten in Nature and Science. He has written five books, the latest of which is War and Peace and War: The Life Cycles of Imperial Nations, Pi Press.…