The Anamami, or Otse the Bogman, Are Farmers, Not Foragers
The way of life of the anamami or otse did not exist on planet earth for the first several hundred thousand years of our existence. The authors are somehow shocked that many left-wing anthropologists are trying to get rid of the idea that humans have a galetarian origin, he writes. He says it's ultimately right wing thinking, thinking justifies hierarchy. And if we look at things in this way, we'll spend less time judging people and more time trying to think about which are the con tions that lead to the crappy situation we are in, and how can we change them?
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In this episode we cover chapter 1 of David Graeber & David Wengrow’s book The Dawn of Everything, entitled Farewell to Humanity’s Childhood; or Why This isn’t a Book About the Origins of Inequality.
In doing so, we look at the following:
How the book’s underlying thesis: that human social structure is ultimately a matter of choice and experimentation, is fundamentally incoherent, and how this idea sets us up for future dramatic political failures, similar to those of Occupy Wall Street or the Great Peasant’s Revolt of 1381.
What the standard narrative of human origins actually is, vs. the caricature elevator pitch version that Graeber & Wengrow claim to be debunking.
Why most anthropologists believe that human beings began as egalitarian hunter-gatherers despite knowing about all of the evidence that Graeber & Wengrow present in order to argue the otherwise.
How and why Graeber & Wengrow flush down the toilet the analytical tools that they need in order to answer their own questions about how we got stuck in dominance hierarchies.
How social structure actually works.
How Graeber & Wengrow’s arguments are great material for right wing talking points.
Why there is room for deliberate social change in a world where social structure is largely a matter of conditions and relative bargaining power, rather than a matter of “choice”.
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