View source for Gradualism

{{Short description|Philosophy of step-by-step proceeding}}
'''Gradualism''', from the Latin {{Lang|la|gradus}} ("step"), is a hypothesis, a theory or a tenet assuming that change comes about gradually or that variation is gradual in nature and happens over time as opposed to in large steps.<ref>Brian McGowran. (2008). ''Biostratigraphy: Microfossils and Geological Time''. Cambridge University Press. p. 384. {{ISBN|978-0521048170}}</ref> [[Uniformitarianism]], [[incrementalism]], and [[reformism]] are similar concepts. 

Gradualism can also refer to desired, controlled change in society, institutions, or policies. For example, [[Social democracy|social democrats]] and [[Democratic socialism|democratic socialists]] see the socialist society as achieved through gradualism.

==Geology and biology==
{{further|Alternatives to Darwinism}}

In the natural sciences, gradualism is the [[theory]] which holds that profound change is the cumulative product of slow but continuous processes, often contrasted with [[catastrophism]].  The theory was proposed in 1795 by [[James Hutton]], a Scottish geologist, and was later incorporated into [[Charles Lyell]]'s theory of [[Uniformitarianism (science)|uniformitarianism]].  Tenets from both theories were applied to [[biology]] and formed the basis of early [[evolution]]ary theory.

[[Charles Darwin]] was influenced by Lyell's ''Principles of Geology'', which explained both uniformitarian methodology and theory. Using uniformitarianism, which states that one cannot make an appeal to any force or phenomenon which cannot presently be observed (see [[catastrophism]]), Darwin theorized that the evolutionary process must occur gradually, not in [[Saltation (biology)|saltations]], since saltations are not presently observed, and extreme deviations from the usual phenotypic variation would be more likely to be selected against.

Gradualism is often confused with the concept of [[phyletic gradualism]]. It is a term coined by [[Stephen Jay Gould]] and [[Niles Eldredge]] to contrast with their model of [[punctuated equilibrium]], which is gradualist itself, but argues that most evolution is marked by long periods of evolutionary stability (called stasis), which is punctuated by rare instances of branching evolution.<ref name=punc1972>Eldredge, Niles, and S. J. Gould (1972). [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/classictexts/eldredge.pdf "Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism"]. In T.J.M. Schopf, ed., ''Models in Paleobiology''. San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper and Company, pp. 82-115.</ref>

[[Phyletic gradualism]] is a model of [[evolution]] which theorizes that most [[speciation]] is slow, uniform and gradual.<ref name=pe1972>Eldredge, N. and S. J. Gould (1972). [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/classictexts/eldredge.asp "Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism"] In T.J.M. Schopf, ed., ''Models in Paleobiology''. San Francisco: Freeman Cooper. p. 84.</ref> When evolution occurs in this mode, it is usually by the steady transformation of a whole [[species]] into a new one (through a process called [[anagenesis]]). In this view no clear line of demarcation exists between an ancestral species and a descendant species, unless [[cladogenesis|splitting]] occurs.

[[Punctuated gradualism]] is a [[microevolution]]ary [[hypothesis]] that refers to a species that has "relative stasis over a considerable part of its total duration [and] underwent periodic, relatively rapid, morphologic change that did not lead to lineage branching". It is one of the three common models of [[evolution]]. While the traditional model of palaeontology, the phylogenetic model, states that features evolved slowly without any direct association with speciation, the relatively newer and more controversial idea of [[punctuated equilibrium]] claims that major evolutionary changes do not happen over a gradual period but in localized, rare, rapid events of branching speciation.  Punctuated gradualism is considered to be a variation of these models, lying somewhere in between the [[phyletic gradualism]] model and the punctuated equilibrium model. It states that speciation is not needed for a lineage to rapidly evolve from one equilibrium to another but may show rapid transitions between long-stable states.

== Politics and society ==
{{Social democracy sidebar |Development}}

In [[politics]], gradualism is the hypothesis that social change can be achieved in small, discrete increments rather than in abrupt strokes such as [[revolution]]s or [[rebellion|uprisings]]. Gradualism is one of the defining features of political [[liberalism]] and [[reformism]].<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.isj.org.uk/?id=903 | title=Left reformism, the state and the problem of socialist politics today | author=Paul Blackledge | year=2013 | publisher=International Socialist Journal | access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> [[Machiavelli|Machiavellian]] politics pushes politicians to espouse gradualism.

Gradualism in [[social change]] implemented through [[reformist]] means is a moral principle to which the [[Fabian Society]] is committed. In a more general way, [[reformism]] is the assumption that gradual changes through and within existing institutions can ultimately change a [[society]]'s fundamental [[economic system]] and political structures; and that an accumulation of reforms can lead to the emergence of an entirely different economic system and form of society than present-day [[capitalism]]. That hypothesis of social change grew out of opposition to [[revolutionary socialism]], which contends that [[revolution]] is necessary for fundamental structural changes to occur.

In [[socialism|socialist politics]] and within the socialist movement, the concept of gradualism is frequently distinguished from reformism, with the former insisting that short-term goals need to be formulated and implemented in such a way that they inevitably lead into long-term goals. It is most commonly associated with the [[libertarian socialist]] concept of dual power and is seen as a middle way between reformism and [[revolutionary socialism|revolutionism]].

[[Martin Luther King Jr.]] was opposed to the idea of gradualism as a method of eliminating [[racial segregation in the United States|segregation]]. The United States government wanted to try to integrate [[African-American]]s and European-Americans slowly into the same society, but many believed it was a way for the government to put off actually doing anything about racial segregation:

{{blockquote|This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.|Martin Luther King Jr.'s "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech, delivered August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web|last1=King|first1=Martin Luther|author-link1=Martin Luther King Jr.|title=I have a dream speech|url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1951-/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-august-28-1963.php|access-date=1 November 2015|date=August 28, 1963}}</ref>}}

===Conspiracy theories===
In the terminology of [[New World Order (conspiracy theory)#Gradualism|NWO]]-related speculations, gradualism refers to the gradual implementation of a [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] [[world government]].

== Linguistics and language change ==
In [[linguistics]], [[language change]] is seen as gradual, the product of chain reactions and subject to [[Drift (linguistics)#Long-term cyclic drift|cyclic drift]].<ref>[[Henri Wittmann]] (1983). "Les réactions en chaîne en morphologie diachronique".  ''Actes du Colloque de la Société internationale de linguistique fonctionnelle'' 10.285-92.[http://www.nou-la.org/1983c-morphodia.pdf]{{dead link|date=January 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> The view that [[creole language]]s are the product of [[catastrophism]] is heavily disputed.<ref>Classic presentations of catastrophe theory include René Thom, ''Stabilité structurelle et morphogénèse''. Reading MA: Benjamin, 1972; Monte Davis and Alexander Woodcock, ''Catastrophe Theory''. NY: Dutton, 1978; and Saunders, ''An Introduction to Catastrophe Theory''. Cambridge University Press, 1980.</ref><ref>For a more-recent overview on the ''pidgin/creole'' language-change literature, see Sarah C. Thomasen, "Pidgins/Creoles and Historical Linguistics", esp. 246-60, in Silvia Kouwenberg and John Victor Singler, eds., ''The Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Studies''. London: John Wiley, 2009. books.google.com/books?id=AyFK3L-U_PIC&pg=PA246
and
{{ISBN|9781444305999}}</ref>

==Morality==
===Christianity===
{{main|Law of gradualness}}

===Buddhism, Theravada and Yoga===

<!--"Five precepts" links here.--> 
Gradualism is the approach of certain schools of Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies (e.g. [[Theravada]] or [[Yoga]]), that [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|enlightenment]] can be achieved step by step, through an arduous practice. The opposite approach, that [[Wisdom in Buddhism|insight]] is attained all at once, is called [[subitism]]. The debate on the issue was very important to the history of the development of [[Zen]], which rejected gradualism,<ref>[http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Miscellaneous/ChanZenStudies.htm Bernard Faure, ''Chan/Zen Studies in English: The State Of The Field'']</ref> and to the establishment of the opposite approach within the [[Tibetan Buddhism]], after the [[Debate of Samye]]. It was continued in other schools of [[Indian philosophy|Indian]] and [[Chinese philosophy]].<ref>{{Citation | editor-last =Gregory | editor-first =Peter N.  | year =1991 | title =''Sudden and Gradual. Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought'' | place =Delhi | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited}}</ref>

==Philosophy==
[[Lorenzo Peña#Contradictorial gradualism|Contradictorial gradualism]] is the paraconsistent treatment of [[Fuzzy logic|fuzziness]] developed by [[Lorenzo Peña]] which regards true contradictions as situations wherein a state of affairs enjoys only partial existence.

==See also==
* [[Evolution]]
* [[Uniformitarianism]]
* [[Incrementalism]]
* [[Normalization (sociology)]]
* [[Reformism]]
* [[Catastrophism]]
* [[Saltation (biology)|Saltation]]
* [[Punctuated equilibrium]]
* [[Accelerationism]]
* [[Boiling frog]]

==References==
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[[Category:Geology theories]]
[[Category:Rate of evolution]]
[[Category:Liberalism]]
[[Category:Social democracy]]
[[Category:Democratic socialism]]
[[Category:Historical linguistics]]
[[Category:Social theories]]