Evo-Devo: Paradigmal Challenge for Institutional-Evolutionary Analysis

Abstract

In modern biological science, there is a change in the paradigm of evolutionary research associated with the rejection of neo-Darwinism principles. The article discusses the prospect of using the conceptual ideas of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) as the new dominant metaphors of institutional-evolutionary analysis. For example, metaphors of niche construction and developmental system stimulate the rejection of externalism (securing the key role in selection for the environment) and dichotomous thinking (opposition of actors and the environment, micro- and macro-analysis). The concept of institutional configurations developed in this vein makes it possible to analytically combine institutional, agential and environmental factors in their interaction into a unified framework. The metaphor of bricolage actualizes the importance of abandoning the optimization concepts of evolution and one-sidedly negative interpretation of institutional anomalies (dysfunctions, failures, traps, etc.) in favor of studying institutional kludges as quasi-optimal persistent institutions created by non-professional actors, and positively rethinking anomalous institutions as a main output of institutional complexity. The metaphor of modularity is associated with the abandonment of thinking in the spirit of traditional totally integrated systems and the transition to the research of assemblages – super-complex institutional systems based on multiple logics and orders for which heterogeneity, fragmentation and hybridity are organic properties and evolutionary advantages.