environment and choice in rapid social change 1

Abstract

Drawing on contemporary ecological and decision‐making theories, we develop a model synthesizing the concepts of environmental structure and individual choice. This approach avoids a static/dynamic dichotomy and therefore can explain behavioral processes in stable adaptation, gradual change, and rapid transformation. The application of the model is illustrated in two situations of rapid economic changeone in Yugoslavia, the other in Newfoundland—involving abrupt, widespread transformation in subsistence patterns through shifts from farming and fishing to industrial wage labor.