How far can one generalize the concept of evolution into the two directions: to the microworld and to the macroworld?
Humans have developed many software simulations that simulate the process of evolution. The answer to this question, I think, can be found in the simulations:
Since the simulation doesn't simulate an entire animal, it must simulate some much more minimal amount of things in order to create an evolutionary process. I feel like your question "how can we generalize evolution?" could be answered by the answer to another question: "what minimum features must a system have in order to be subject to the process of evolution?" And that's exactly what simulations do.
So what features do simulations of evolution tend to implement? I don't have the full and complete answer to this, but I have some ideas about where to start:
Heritability. A way for members to pass on traits.
Variation (potentially with limited mutation). This is a point that pairs with number 1: there's no point inheriting traits if everything is the same. Things must be different.
Selection - the system must favour some traits more than others to be inherited more. If there's no realpractical difference between members with different features - if they all survive at the same rates and pass on their heritable features at the same rates - then the traits get moved around the population essentially at random. An environment with selection pressures which favour some traits over others can de-randomize this process to some degree.
Pretty much all simulations of evolution will have these features in some form or another in the system.
And that's how you'd generalize it. If you want to look for another system which might be under evolutionary processes, check for these features.
Video game design is a great example that I just thought of. Successful video games have their features copied more by future video games (heritability). There are selection pressures (the people who spend money on video games). And there is variation - new video games with new ideas being created all the time. We've just discovered a system subject to evolution!