Hierarchy in the Forest
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Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior

Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior


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About the Book

The political flexibility of our species is formidable: we can be quite egalitarian, we can be quite despotic. This book traces the roots of these contradictory traits in chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, and early human societies. Boehm postulates that egalitarianism is in effect a hierarchy in which the weak combine forces to dominate the strong.

Table of Contents:
Contents 1. The Question of Egalitarian Society 2. Hierarchy and Equality 3. Putting Down Aggressors 4. Equality and Its Causes 5. A Wider View of Egalitarianism 6. The Hominoid Political Spectrum 7. Ancestral Politics 8. The Evolution of Egalitarian Society 9. Paleolithic Politics and Natural Selection 10. Ambivalence and Compromise in Human Nature References Index

About the Author :
Christopher Boehm is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Jane Goodall Research Center at the University of Southern California.

Review :
This well-written book, geared toward an audience with background in the behavioral and evolutionary sciences but accessible to a broad readership, raises two general questions: 'What is an egalitarian society?' and 'How have these societies evolved?'...[Christopher Boehm] takes the reader on a journey from the Arctic to the Americas, from Australia to Africa, in search of hunter-gatherer and tribal societies that emanate the egalitarian ethos--one that promotes generosity, altruism and sharing but forbids upstartism, aggression and egoism. Throughout this journey, Boehm tantalizes the reader with vivid anthropological accounts of ridicule, criticism, ostracism and even execution--prevalent tactics used by subordinates in egalitarian societies to level the social playing field...Hierarchy in the Forest is an interesting and thought-provoking book that is surely an important contribution to perspectives on human sociality and politics. -- Ryan Earley American Scientist Combing an exhaustive ethnographic survey of human societies from groups of hunter-gatherers to contemporary residents of the Balkans with a detailed analysis of the behavioral attributes of non-human primates (chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos), Boehm focuses on whether humans are hierarchical or egalitarian by nature...[Boehm's hypotheses] are invariably intriguing and well documented...He raises topics of wide interest and his book should get attention. Publishers Weekly From a theoretical perspective, some of the most convincing arguments presented by Boehm center around the pivotal role of language in the evolution of egalitarianism...More provocative, however, are Boehm's ideas on how between-group selection has operated to generate egalitarianism. -- Harold Gouzoules The Quarterly Review of Biology Hierarchy in the Forest claims new territory for biological anthropology and evolutionary biology by extending the domain of these sciences into a crucial aspect of human political and social behavior. This book will be a key document in the study of the evolutionary basis of genuine altruism. Primate Science


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9780674028449
  • Binding: Digital (delivered electronically)
  • Language: English
  • Sub Title: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior
  • ISBN-10: 0674028449
  • Edition: Digital original
  • No of Pages: 304


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