All this bad theory doesn't just confuse or pacify people who accept dominant ideologies and ideas. It also clogs up the minds of those of us who reject them, with disastrous consequences. One of the most spectacular examples of this is the english peasants revolt of 13 81, which they talked about in episode eight. Another more recent example of a situation where you had mass organization bolstered by favorable conditions, all wasted by bad theory. And course, and bring up occupy because one of the big intellectual lights behind occupies spectacular successes and its mindless failure was none other than david graber,. co author of the dawn of everything.
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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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