WHAT IS POLITICS?
10.1 Graeber & Wengrow’s “The Dawn of Everything”: What is an “Egalitarian” Society?
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
- Equality in politics is defined as equal decision-making power based on democracy and individual autonomy.
- Hunter-gatherer societies exhibited gender equality, better health, and diverse lifestyles compared to farmers.
- Immediate return economies in hunter-gatherer societies promote egalitarianism through equal access to resources and collective actions.
Deep dives
Revisiting the Notion of Equality in Politics
In the podcast episode, the concept of equality in politics is thoroughly examined. Equality is defined as equal decision-making power, not based on physical attributes but on democracy and individual autonomy. The analysis delves into how equality of power implies economic equality, absence of authority figures, and non-existence of power hierarchies based on cultural discrimination.
Debunking Assumptions About Hunter-Gatherer Societies
The podcast challenges long-held assumptions about hunter-gatherer societies. It highlights that these societies were not male-dominated but exhibited gender equality and autonomy for women. Contrary to previous beliefs, hunter-gatherers were better nourished and healthier than farmers, worked fewer hours, and enjoyed a more diverse and less intensive lifestyle.
Examining Immediate Return Economies and Egalitarian Societies
The episode discusses the unique characteristics of immediate return economies in hunter-gatherer societies that promote egalitarianism. It emphasizes societies where individuals have equal access to food and resources, practice open access to knowledge and skills, and prevent dominance through collective actions. The analysis sheds light on the evolutionary implications of such egalitarian structures and their impact on societal dynamics.
Importance of Traditional Tribal Systems
Traditional tribal systems exist as a means of managing collective property, such as fishing or farming territories, through descent groups like clans or tribes. These systems provide clear ownership rules and defensive capabilities for the community. Whether it's controlling hunting territories like the Mikma or managing farming territories like the Huron, tribal organization indicates a need to manage collective property.
Interpreting the Concept of Equality
The term 'equality' sparks debates on its meaning, ranging from an ideology of sameness to a situation where individuals truly have equal access and rights. In the context of societal power dynamics, true equality implies celebrating individual significance regardless of differences. This perspective emphasizes equality of power and the importance of individual contributions within a community, challenging traditional views and highlighting the complexities of defining and implementing equality.
In this episode we read and critique the conclusion of Chapter 2 of Dawn of Everything, “Wicked Liberty: The Indigenous Critique and the Myth of the Noble Savage”, which was previously released in French in 2019 as La Sagesse de Kandiaronk.
Given that the conclusion of the chapter is a tirade against the concept of “equality” we first examine what the world equality means in a political context, and what the term “egalitarian society” implies, followed by an examination of the history of the anthropological literature on egalitarian hunter gatherer societies.
We also cover material from Graeber’s Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology and On Kings in order to look at how his treatment of egalitarian societies over his career routinely ignored 50 years of research on extremely egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, a practice which he and Wengrow continue in this chapter.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY / SUGGESTED READINGS
GRAEBER AND WENGROW
Graeber & Wengrow 2021 – The Dawn of Everything
Graeber & Wengrow 2019 – La Sagesse de Kandiaronk (deepl or googl translate will give you a decent English translation)
Graeber & Wengrow 2015 – Farewell to the Childhood of Man
Graeber & Wengrow 2020 – Hiding in Plain Sight, Democracy’s indigenous origins in the Americas.
David Graeber 2004 – Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology
David Graeber and Marshall Sahlins 2017 – On Kings
David Graeber & Andrej Gubačić 2020 – Introduction to Pyotr Kropotkin 1902 – Mutual Aid
CRITIQUES OF GRAEBER AND WENGROW
Chris Knight 2021 – Did Communism Make Us Human? The Anthropology of David Graeber
Christ Knight 2021 – The Anthropology of David Graeber (video)
Camilla Power 2018 – Gender egalitarianism made us human: A response to David Graeber & David Wengrow’s ‘How to change the course of human history’
GENERAL
Robert Kelly 1995/2014 – The Foraging Spectrum
James Woodburn 1982 – Egalitarian Societies
James Woodburn 2005 – Egalitarian Societies Revisited, in Widlock & Gossa (eds) – Property and equality, Volume 1: ritualisation, sharing, egalitarianism
Richard Lee 2004 – Power and Property in Twenty-first Century Foragers: A Critical Examination
Richard Lee & Irving Devore (Eds.) 1968 – Man the Hunter
Richard Lee & Eleanor Leacock (eds) 1983 – Politics and History in Band Societies
CENTRAL AFRICAN FORAGERS
Jerome Lewis 2017 – Bayaka Elephant Hunting in the Congo
Lewis, J., 2014. Egalitarian Social Organization: The Case of the Mbendjele BaYaka
Morna Finnegan 2013 – The politics of Eros: ritual dialogue and egalitarianism in three Central African hunter-gatherer societies
Hewlett 2017 ed – Hunter-Gatherers of the Congo Basin
Colin Turnbull 1961 – The Forest People
KALAHARI BUSH PEOPLE
Richard Lee 1969 – Eating Christmas in the Kalahari [“Shaming the meat”]
Richard Lee 1979 – The !Kung San: Men, Women and Work in a Foraging Society
Richard Lee 1982 – Politics, Sexual and Non-Sexual, in an Egalitarian Society
Richard Lee 1984/2013 – The Dobe Ju/Hoansi
Helga Vierich 2021 – ‘Hunting is boring and unreliable. Let the men do it!’ (video)
HADZA
Frank Marlowe 2010 – The Hadza Hunter-Gatherers of Tanzania
Frank Marlowe 2004 – Dictators and ultimatums in an egalitarian society of hunter-gatherers, the Hadza
Fearless & Far 2021 – Asking Hunter-Gatherers Life’s Toughest Questions (video)
Coren Lee Apicella 2018 – High levels of rule-bending in a minimally religious and largely egalitarian forager population
NAYAKA
Nurit Bird-David 1990 – The Giving Environment, Another Perspective on the Economic System of Gatherer-Hunters
Nurit Bird-David 1999 – “Animism” Revisited: Personhood, Environment, and Relational Epistemology
BATEK
Kirk & Karen Endicott 2008 – The Headman Was a Woman: The Gender Egalitarian Batek of Malaysia
MONTAGNAIS-NASKAPI
Eleanor Leacock 1981 – Myths of Male Dominance
CRITIQUES/DEBATES ON FORAGER EGALITARIANISM
Alan Barnard 1992 – The Kalahari Debate, a Bibliographical Essay
Edwin Wilmsen 1989 – Land Filled With Flies
Roy Richard Grinkger 1991 – Houses in the Rainforest
Richard Lee & Mathias Guenther 1991 – Oxen or Onions? The Search for Trade (and Truth) in the Kalahari
Ted Kaczynski 2008 – The Truth About Primitive Life: A Critique of Anarchoprimitivism
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