{"id":117599,"url":"https://github.com/o957/awesome-cliodynamics","name":"awesome-cliodynamics","description":"A curated list of awesome resources for cliodynamcs. ","projects_count":48,"last_synced_at":"2026-07-28T07:00:29.869Z","repository":{"id":320130264,"uuid":"1080176707","full_name":"O957/awesome-cliodynamics","owner":"O957","description":"A curated list of awesome resources for cliodynamcs. 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[[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliodynamics#cite_note-FOOTNOTETurchin2008-1)] CITATION: Wikipedia contributors. \"Cliodynamics.\" Wikipedia. Last modified September 28, 2025. Accessed October 24, 2025. \u003chttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliodynamics\u003e.\n\n![](./assets/cliodynamics.jpg) [^image_attribution]\n\n[^image_attribution]: Image used under the [Unsplash License](https://unsplash.com/license), i.e. \"All images can be downloaded and used for free\", \"Commercial and non-commercial purposes\", and \"No permission needed (though attribution is appreciated!)\". Image Link: \u003chttps://unsplash.com/photos/group-of-people-in-museum-R01A9PJQNIM\u003e. Image Description: \"Travelers in the terminal\". Image Photographer: [Callum Chapman](https://unsplash.com/@callumchapman).\n\n[^curation_details]: This list follows specific scoping guidelines. **Databases \u0026 Data Repositories** includes the Seshat Global History Databank and other historical databases. **Journals \u0026 Publications** covers the primary cliodynamics journal and related publications. **Software \u0026 Analysis Tools** features quantitative history tools and modeling frameworks. **Key Research Projects** highlights major findings and quantitative studies. **Organizations \u0026 Communities** lists research institutes and networks. **Educational Resources** includes books, methodological resources, and online courses.\n\n## Contents\n\n- [Databases \u0026 Data Repositories](#databases--data-repositories)\n- [Journals \u0026 Publications](#journals--publications)\n- [Software \u0026 Analysis Tools](#software--analysis-tools)\n- [Key Research Projects](#key-research-projects)\n- [Organizations \u0026 Communities](#organizations--communities)\n- [Educational Resources](#educational-resources)\n- [People](#people)\n- [Related Awesome Lists](#related-awesome-lists)\n\n## Databases \u0026 Data Repositories\n\n### Seshat: Global History Databank\n\n1. [Seshat Official Site](https://seshatdatabank.info): Massive repository of historical and archaeological data on political and social organization from the Neolithic to the Industrial Revolution.\n2. [Seshat Data Browser](https://seshatdatabank.info/data/): Interactive exploration of complexity variables across 30+ world regions over 10,000 years.\n3. [Seshat GitHub](https://github.com/seshat-db): Open data exports and code repositories.\n\n### Other Historical Databases\n\n1. [ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)](https://www.icpsr.umich.edu): University of Michigan repository with extensive political, economic, and demographic data for quantitative history.\n2. [Correlates of War Project](https://correlatesofwar.org): International relations and conflict data from 1816 to the present.\n3. [Maddison Historical Statistics](https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/): Long-run economic data including GDP and population.\n4. [Clio Infra](https://clio-infra.eu): Global long-term development database.\n\n## Journals \u0026 Publications\n\n### Primary Journal\n\n1. [Cliodynamics: The Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural Evolution](https://escholarship.org/uc/cliodynamics): Open-access, peer-reviewed journal publishing mathematical models, data analysis, and theoretical advances (2010-present).\n\n### Related Journals\n\n1. [Journal of Interdisciplinary History](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/jinh): MIT Press journal on interdisciplinary historical research (1970-present).\n2. [Social Science History](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-science-history): Cambridge University Press journal on social science approaches to history (1976-present).\n3. [Historical Methods](https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/vhim20): Taylor \u0026 Francis journal on quantitative and formal methods in history (1967-present).\n4. [Cliometrica](https://www.springer.com/journal/11698): Springer journal on quantitative economic history.\n\n## Software \u0026 Analysis Tools\n\n### Quantitative History Tools\n\n1. [R](https://www.r-project.org/): Statistical computing environment widely used in cliodynamics for time series, regression, and survival analysis.\n2. [Python](https://www.python.org/): Programming language used for data analysis and modeling, with libraries such as NetworkX, pandas, and scikit-learn.\n3. [PAST](https://www.nhm.uio.no/english/research/resources/past/): Paleontological statistics software also applicable to historical data analysis.\n\n### Modeling Frameworks\n\n1. [NetLogo](https://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/): Agent-based modeling platform for simulating historical processes.\n2. [Mesa](https://mesa.readthedocs.io/): Python framework for agent-based modeling.\n3. [Vensim](https://vensim.com/): System dynamics software for modeling feedback loops in social systems.\n4. [Stella](https://www.iseesystems.com/store/products/stella-architect.aspx): System dynamics modeling environment for complex social systems.\n\n## Key Research Projects\n\n### Major Findings\n\n1. [Single Dimension of Complexity (Turchin et al., PNAS 2018)](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1708800115): Finding that social scale, governance, information systems, and economic features coevolve along one principal component across all world regions.\n\n### Quantitative Dynamics of Empires\n\n1. [Rockefeller University Empire Study](https://phe.rockefeller.edu/docs/empires_booklet.pdf): Mathematical modeling of 20 diverse empires over 3,000 years using territorial expansion as a parameter, with logistic growth models fitting empire expansion and collapse.\n\n## Organizations \u0026 Communities\n\n1. [Evolution Institute](https://evolution-institute.org): Nonprofit supporting Seshat and cliodynamics research.\n2. [Complexity Science Hub Vienna](https://www.csh.ac.at): Interdisciplinary research center for social complexity.\n3. [Santa Fe Institute](https://www.santafe.edu): Complex systems research including social evolution.\n4. [Peter Turchin's Website](https://peterturchin.com): Leading cliodynamicist's research portal and blog.\n\n## Educational Resources\n\n### Books\n\n1. [Historical Dynamics: Why States Rise and Fall](https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691116693/historical-dynamics): Peter Turchin's foundational text on mathematical modeling of history (2003).\n2. [War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires](https://www.amazon.com/War-Peace-Rise-Fall-Empires/dp/0452288193): Peter Turchin's accessible introduction to cliodynamics and cyclical historical patterns (2007).\n3. [Secular Cycles](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691136967/secular-cycles): Turchin and Nefedov analyze demographic-structural cycles across multiple civilizations (2009).\n4. [Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth](https://www.amazon.com/Ultrasociety-Years-Made-Humans-Greatest/dp/0996139516): Peter Turchin on the evolution of large-scale cooperation (2016).\n5. [Ages of Discord: A Structural-Demographic Analysis of American History](https://www.amazon.com/Ages-Discord-Structural-Demographic-Analysis-American/dp/0996139540): Application of structural-demographic theory to American political instability (2016).\n6. [End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/671801/end-times-by-peter-turchin/): Application of cliodynamic theory to the contemporary American political crisis (2023).\n\n### Methodological Resources\n\n1. [Seshat Codebook](https://seshatdatabank.info/methods/): Detailed variable definitions and coding protocols for the Seshat databank.\n2. [Translating Historical Knowledge into Data](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5sq5t68m): Cliodynamics paper on data collection methodology.\n3. [Fitting Dynamic Regression Models to Seshat Data](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2hz3r4c8): Statistical methods paper for cliodynamic analysis.\n\n### Online Courses\n\n1. [Complexity Explorer: Introduction to Complexity (Santa Fe Institute)](https://www.complexityexplorer.org/courses/): Free course covering complex systems with historical examples relevant to cliodynamics.\n2. [Modeling and Simulation of Social Systems (ETH Zurich)](https://www.sg.ethz.ch/): Computational social science course applicable to cliodynamic modeling.\n\n## People\n\n- [Peter Turchin](https://peterturchin.com) - University of Connecticut / Complexity Science Hub Vienna. Coined the term \"cliodynamics,\" developed structural-demographic theory, and co-founded the Seshat Global History Databank.\n- [Patrick Savage](https://github.com/pesavage) - Keio University. Key contributor to Seshat databank research with reproducible code for major cliodynamics publications.\n- [Bret Beheim](https://github.com/babeheim) - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Publishes reproducible analysis code for cultural evolution studies and cliodynamic reanalyses.\n- [Jack Goldstone](https://schar.gmu.edu/profiles/jgoldsto) - George Mason University. Originator of structural-demographic theory, the mathematical framework modeling how demographic pressures drive revolutions.\n- [Pieter Francois](https://www.turing.ac.uk/people/researchers/pieter-francois) - University of Oxford / Alan Turing Institute. Co-founded and operationally leads Seshat. Founded the first cliodynamics lab (University of Hertfordshire, 2015).\n- [Harvey Whitehouse](https://www.harveywhitehouse.com) - University of Oxford. Co-founded Seshat. Developed the modes of religiosity theory and led landmark Nature studies using the Seshat database.\n\n## Related Awesome Lists\n\n- [Awesome Computational Social Science](https://github.com/gesiscss/awesome-computational-social-science) - Resources for computational social science.\n- [Awesome Digital Humanities](https://github.com/dh-tech/awesome-digital-humanities) - Software for humanities scholars using quantitative or computational methods.\n- [Awesome Complexity](https://github.com/sellisd/awesome-complexity) - Complex systems science resources.\n- [Awesome Network Analysis](https://github.com/briatte/awesome-network-analysis) - Network analysis resources.\n\n## Contributing\n\nNotice anything missing that would be a good fit? If interested in contributing, please see the [contributing file](./CONTRIBUTING.md) for further direction.\n\n## Code of Conduct\n\nPlease see the [code of conduct](./CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).\n\n## License\n\n[![CC0](https://mirrors.creativecommons.org/presskit/buttons/88x31/svg/cc-zero.svg)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)\n\nTo the extent possible under law, [O957](https://github.com/O957) has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.\n","projects_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/lists/o957%2Fawesome-cliodynamics/projects"}