Social cycle theories are among the earliest
social theories in
sociology. Unlike the theory of
social evolutionism, which views the
evolution of society and
human history as progressing in some new, unique direction(s), sociological cycle theory argues that events and stages of society and history are generally repeating themselves in cycles. Such a theory does not necessarily imply that there cannot be any
social progress. In the early theory of
Sima Qian and the more recent theories of long-term ("secular") political-demographic cycles as well as in the
Varnic theory of
P.R. Sarkar an explicit accounting is made of social progress.