6. Political Anthropology: Hierarchy, Equality and Human Nature

Everywhere we look, past and present we see hierarchical societies where some people have more wealth, more power, and more rights than others.  Was this always the state of the human world?  Is hierarchy in our nature?  Are egalitarian societies... Continue Reading →

Everywhere we look, past and present we see hierarchical societies where some people have more wealth, more power, and more rights than others.  Was this always the state of the human world?  Is hierarchy in our nature?  Are egalitarian societies possible for human beings?  If so, under what conditions?   And is freedom compatible with equality?

Suggested readings:

Hierarchy in the Forest, by Christopher Boehm, 1999

The Dobe Ju/’Hoansi, by Richard Lee 1984/2012

”Eating Christmas in the Kalahari”, by Richard Lee, 1969

The Forest People, by Colin Turnbull, 1961

Wayward Servants, by Colin Turnbull, 1965

“Taming Wild-Ass Colts” by Nancy Nienhuis, 2009 in Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Vol. 25, No 1. pp. 43-64 

Myths of Male Dominance, edited by Eleanor Leacock, 1981

Chimpanzee Politics, by Franz de Waal, 2007

The Hadza Hunter-Gatherers, by Frank Marlowe, 2010

The Foraging Spectrum, by Robert L. Kelly, 2013

”Farewell to the Childhood of Man”, by David Graeber & David Wengrow, 2015 (Note that I strongly disagree with the underlying assumption of this article, which seems to argue that people just somehow “choose” hierarchy or equality for no particular reasons.  However, it cites interesting examples that I draw from in this episode to illustrate my own thesis, and is a good example of a contrasting view held by a minority of anthropologists.  Also, David Graeber is always a great read.  I will address all the arguments of this article in a bonus episode. Note that I solve the “sapient paradox” in my summary, which I will explain further in the same bonus episode.  Also note that the article closes on the question of the supposed mystery of why almost everyone on earth seems to have “chosen” hierarchy for the past few millenia.  The answer to that question has in fact been known since the late 1970s and I will be explaining it in the next episode #7).

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