Unilineal evolution, also referred to as classical social evolution, is a 19th-century social theory about the evolution of societies and cultures. It was composed of many competing theories by various anthropologists and sociologists, who believed that Western culture is the contemporary pinnacle of social evolution.

What is Unilinear evolution perspective?

A late 19th‐century evolutionary theory that envisaged all human societies as evolving along a common track from simple hunting and gathering communities to literate civilizations. In this, all societies would pass through the same basic sequence of stages, although the speed of transition might vary.

What is multilinear evolution theory?

A theory of cultural evolution that sees each human culture evolving in its own way by adaptation to diverse environments: different 'pathways' of evolutionary development followed by different societies.