Why are most humans religious?
How much can be explained by evolutionary psychology?
Why do we cooperate? Is it religious injunctions or more emotional?
Is religiosity really about cooperation? What about legitimising hierarchy, control, and female self-sacrifice.
Muslim women are less likely to go to Friday prayers, but they are still devout. So perhaps group rituals are not so essential? 
Why did all doctrinal religions emerge within a narrow latitudinal band?
Are groups necessarily small? Don’t films and social media scale-up solidarity? What about online mobs viciously attacking their favoured celebrity’s boyfriend’s new girlfriend?

Interview with Professor Robin Dunbar, Professor of Evolutionary Psychology and Anthropology at the University of Oxford
https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/people/robin-dunbar

Robin's latest book is on Religion. He has also published excellent books on the science of love and betrayal; the evolution of language; and friendships.

Why Are Most Humans Religious? Professor Robin Dunbar

We are living in an age of incredible technological innovation. But is it actually benefitting humanity? 
 
MIT Professors Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson have a tremendous new book on this exact question: “Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity”.

Professor Daron Acemoglu joins me today. 

In this podcast, we explore: 
•	Why social scientists should pay attention to ‘vision’
•	Did automation cause premature deindustrialisation?
•	Is firm size important?
•	Why did wages rise so rapidly in South Korea? 
•	What’s caused the fall in worker power?
•	Why has automation increased?
•	How can technology be redirected?

"Power & Progress": Professor Daron Acemoglu

A conversation with MIT Professor Yasheng Huang

Why is the CCP so resilient?
How did the keju imperial examinations shape Chinese autocracy and culture?
What does South Korea tell us about growth, democratisation and culture?

Discussing his new book: https://yalebooks.co.uk/page/detail/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-east/?k=9780300266368

The Rise and Fall of the East, Professor Yasheng Huang

“The Two-Parent Privilege”

Stopping Sexual Harassment

Muslim societies are more likely to be authoritarian and marred in civil war. The big question is why?

Faisal Ahmed presents a new theory: “Conquest and Rents”.

He suggests that where Islam spread via military conquest, political authority was consolidated under a dictator. Political authority was then consolidated under a dictator, with elite slave soldiers, who were compensated with non-hereditary land grants. Absolutist rule was then legitimised by clerics. 

Authoritarianism persists if propped up by rents (oil or foreign aid). Where rents declined, these societies erupted in civil war (like Somalia).

Where Islam spread through trade, these societies remained more cohesive. So when rents declined, they democratised.

It's one of the most fascinating books I've read in 2023. I strongly recommend it and hope you enjoy our podcast.

"Conquest & Rents": Professor Faisal Ahmed

Why is Indian female labour force participation ultra low? To investigate, Suhani Jalota and Lisa Ho ran a Randomised Control Trial in Mumbai. They find that most women reject high-paying office jobs. This is not due to housework or childcare. Husbands said no. 

The paper: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/z3v4gxqpkvc4p9ntjy0ie/h?preview=WfH_JMP+(47).pdf&rlkey=ca71mbrtewdo92exnmop1q0b8&dl=0

My Substack: https://draliceevans.substack.com/p/why-did-poor-indian-women-reject?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

Why do Poor Indian Women Reject Office Jobs?

In 1900, East and South Asia were extremely patriarchal. Men were revered as high status, while female sacrifice was glorified. By socialising women to marry, obey their in-laws and stay put, Asian families consolidated trusted networks of social cooperation. Since chastity was crucial for family honour, women were also tightly restricted. But, over the 20th century, East Asian women increasingly undertook paid work in the public sphere, forged solidarity and gained status. Growth also catalysed a broader process of cultural liberalisation: autonomy, dating, and divorce. South Asian patriarchy is much more persistent. Intimate partner violence remains normalised. To explain this divergence, I suggest that every patrilocal family faces a trade-off between honour (achieved by social policing) and income (earned by exploiting female labour). East Asian female employment rose because rising wages compensated for honour. East Asian culture also differed: they lacked endogamy and were less concerned about female seclusion.

This is the audio track of my new paper. 

For ease of listening, I have not added the references into the audio track.

If you wish to read the full paper, it is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VFEFazSbYM2jPVeqC2EUJDcRyHcuNqpD/view?usp=sharing

How East Asia overtook South Asia on Gender

In the West economic development spawned individualism and the spirit of ‘68. Modernisation theorists predicted that growth would deliver liberalism worldwide. Inglehart and Welzel argued that post-industrial societies would champion self-expression. But in fact, this has not transpired. Many prosperous places - like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and South Korea - remain quite conservative. India’s economic growth has not delivered secularism, but Hindu nationalism.

Why explains this global cultural divergence?

Why are some rich countries conservative?

Exogamy and endogamy aren’t just about who marries your daughter, but with whom you barter, truck and exchange. Marriage was fundamentally about economics.

So how did exogamy and endogamy shape economics and culture?

How do Exogamy and Endogamy shape Economics and Culture?

Across much of the world, men and women think alike. However, in countries that are economically developed and culturally liberal, young men and women are polarising. As chronicled by John Burn-Murdoch, young women are increasingly likely to identify as ‘progressives’ and vote for leftists, while young men remain more conservative. What explains this global heterogeneity?

What Prevents & What Drives Gendered Ideological Polarisation?

Hostile Sexism in South Korea: Professor Jouen Kim

East Asian societies tend to idealise:

- Meritocracy and reverence for education

- Upward mobility and economic prosperity (trumping the afterlife)

- Collective harmony.

How is East Asian culture different?

What I am about to say may make you feel uncomfortable. Some may even find it offensive. In some circles, it’s still a distasteful taboo. Westerners rarely speak about it publicly, certainly not directly, even though most people definitely want it.

As a social scientist, I am not so squeamish. So I’ll say it…

Ideals of Upward Mobility

In some societies, collective harmony is more highly valued than self-expression. If people are reluctant to speak out, prior culture is more likely to persist unchallenged. Caring deeply about social approval amplifies fears of ostracism and motivates quiet conformity. Moreover, where self-assertion is strongly disliked, feminist activism is more likely to trigger patriarchal backlash. This is a hugely important, but widely overlooked driver of ‘the Great Gender Divergence’.

Ideals of Collective Harmony

East Asian businesses often go out drinking. Why is this such an important part of corporate culture, relative to other world regions?

A month ago, I didn’t know. Now, after my interviews with people in China and Korea, the answer is very obvious.

Why Do East Asian Firms Value Drinking?

What’s the Future of the US Labor Movement? Suresh Naidu

Patriarchy is reinforced by fraternal solidarity. The Athenian demos, German guilds, Tswana kgotla, Chinese imperial dynasties, Muslim Brotherhood and Indian caste panchayats all reinforced male dominance. As long as men are united, bound in collective loyalty, women are secondary.

How might this change?

On International Women’s Day, I’d like to highlight a hugely important (but widely overlooked) driver of gender equality. In fact, this mechanism is so powerful that it is actively suppressed by many patriarchal societies.

ROMANTIC LOVE

Romantic Love is an Under-Rated Driver of Gender Equality

If everyone is equal, it’s much more acceptable for women to get to the top.

In societies where no one is special, men seem much more accepting of female leadership. Whereas in hierarchical cultures, where subordinates must bow to their bosses, female managers and politicians are more strongly disliked. They may even trigger backlash.

This is a novel theory of gender inequality. I believe it helps explain why Russia and Nigeria’s parliaments are almost entirely male, just like Korean and Japanese male-dominated management.

If I’m right, then Scandinavia’s feminist secret is not so much about gender, but rather an evolution of moral and political egalitarianism.

Does Egalitarianism enable more Gender Equality?

Why is India's female labour force participation so low? And how might that change?

Suhani Jalota and Lisa Ho share insights from their brilliant work in Mumbai and West Bengal. 

This discussion is superbly insightly and great fun. Stay tuned for jokes & data.

Paper on Mumbai: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/z3v4gxqpkvc4p9ntjy0ie/h?dl=0&e=1&preview=Jalota_Suhani_WhatWorksForHer.pdf&rlkey=ca71mbrtewdo92exnmop1q0b8

Paper on West Bengal:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vyzkrzwv2xlce1woj9hcm/lisaho_jmp_hjk_bwh.pdf?rlkey=aj66ghiptyslj5l7lawr9kzgs&e=1&dl=0

Why is female employment low in India? How might that change? Suhani Jalota & Lisa Ho

What Would Reduce Female Genital Cutting?

Sub-Saharan Africa's Economic Stagnation

Slave-Raiding, Solidarity and Status in Africa

The Patriarchal Political Order: Soledad Artiz Prillaman

Over the 20th century, the entire world became more gender equal. Or so I thought. But Pakistan has rocked my priors. Female employment has slightly risen. Meanwhile, young Pakistani women are more sexist than their grandmothers. What is going on?

Charts and graphs are on my Substack: https://www.ggd.world/p/is-pakistan-becoming-more-patriarchal

Is Pakistan becoming more Patriarchal?

Saumitra Jha (Associate Professor of Political Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business) joins me to discuss what prevents Hindu-Muslim conflict.

We discuss his paper on "Trade, Institutions, and Ethnic Tolerance: Evidence from South Asia" https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/trade-institutions-and-ethnic-tolerance-evidence-from-south-asia/534E0018C1431E7A7615B4FAD26DEB3E

What prevents Hindu-Muslim conflict? Saumitra Jha

Who are the world's most influential philosophers?

What led to the demise of foot-binding?

Why do countries rarely default on sovereign debts?

In this episode, Dr Jerome Roos (LSE) discusses the domestic and international political economy of sovereign debt default. We explore three key enforcement mechanisms, and how they have changed over the past two hundred years.

His book is fantastic: https://press.princeton.edu/titles/13318.html
Read more about his work here: https://jeromeroos.com/

"Why Not Default? The Political Economy of Sovereign Debt": Dr Jerome Roos

Professor Daron Acemoglu discusses his new book, arguing that liberty and prosperity require strong states and strong societies. 

Alice asks where do strong societies come from? What explains the global heterogeneity in social capital, as well as labour coercion? Can his theory accommodate East Asia? And whether the state-society binary is really the best way to understand threats to liberty today?

Professor Acemoglu is incredibly impressive. I do hope you enjoy this episode.

Buy the book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/555400/the-narrow-corridor-by-daron-acemoglu-and-james-a-robinson/
Read more about Professor Acemoglu's work: https://economics.mit.edu/faculty/acemoglu

"The Narrow Corridor": Professor Daron Acemoglu

Dr Alice Evans and leading experts discuss growth, governance, & gender inequalities.

Alice is a Senior Lecturer at King's College London, and Faculty Associate at the Harvard Kennedy School.

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