Scale Matters

Researchers constantly move between wider and narrower frames of view, enlarging and shrinking their subjects as they write. The people they study do the same, so scale runs through the work on both sides. Still, scale is seldom examined as a practice in its own right, or for what happens when scholars put it to use.

This volume addresses that gap. Its contributors examine the risks and opportunities that come with scaling, pursuing the question through conversation across disciplines. Scholars working in different fields, regions and time periods bring scale-aware perspectives to questions of human sociality, culture and evolution.

The contributors include Nurit Bird-David, Robert L. Kelly, Charlotte Damm, Andreas Maier, Brian Codding, Elspeth Ready, Bram Tucker, Graeme Warren, and others.