Cultural Evolution
The Evolution of Identity Signals for Co-Ordination in Diverse Societies
(coauthored with Adrian Bell and Paul E. Smaldino) We develop a formal model of the evolution of multidimensional social identity signals, allowing us to explore the emergence of complex group structures, cross-cultural competence, and intersectional identity in diverse societies. playing a coordination game. Agents have access to signals in multiple dimensions (signals in the same dimension are mutually exclusive). We show how this allows a variety of group topologies to obtain.
On the Stability of Racial Capitalism
(coauthored with Liam Kofi Bright, Cailin O'Connor, and Olúfémi O. Táíwó) What is the connection between capitalism and racial hierarchy? In line with the tradition known as `the theory of racial capitalism' we show that the latter can functionally support the former. As a social construction, race has just those features which allow it to facilitate the sort of stable, inequitable distributions of resources that tend to emerge in capitalist systems. We support this claim using techniques from evolutionary game theory and cultural evolutionary theory, and end by discussing the normative political consequences of this relationship.