Non-fiction
Finished the 524 pages of “The Dawn of Everything, A New History Of Humanity” by Davids Graeber and Wengrow. A challenging book, well written and somewhat academic in tone, both authors are professors at their respective British schools, Graeber of economics and Wengrow of comparative archeology.
The authors propose that there were actually few “revolutions” (as in agricultural, industrial, or technological) in history, it was more a series of small steps into and out of different styles of societal living. They take the post-ice age developments up to the Enlightenment showing examples from the record, delving into a global (Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Mesoamerican, Amerindian, Andean and other) antiquity and using the data accumulated from the last 50 years of archeology, ethnology, and paleontology to reconstruct the sequence of events that leads us to our current state.
The history of burials and the excavations of large ancient cities points to a history that was less top down or authoritarian than previously thought. Rather, they propose a record showing adaptability of council leadership based on “1 – the freedom to move away or relocate from one’s surroundings; 2 – the freedom to ignore or disobey commands issued by others; and, 3 – the freedom to shape entirely new social realities” (p. 503).
In the cycle of rise and fall, societies often didn’t “fail”, they often dissolved into a new form of society, constantly evolving new forms of self-governance. Major cities and the well planned ritual sites were cooperative in their building, often with large groups converging on a site during winters to build both dwellings and temples then scattering to gather, hunt and farm.
The domination of others was less a trend than trading with others. When dominion did occur, it was normally short lived and societies moved on when the cycle inevitably broke. Long lasting “civilizations” like the high periods of Egypt did not devolve into “dark ages” as they ended but rather transformed into other stable societies capable of sustaining their people. Slavery and war are examined in great detail, the presence of ritual human sacrifice dates well back in the record, but is more unusual than what I think of when I think of say Inca or Mayan rituals.
At the end of the book, they wrestle with the questions how did we get “stuck” in our current authoritarian, global mess? Is there hope we can extricate ourselves? What is the role of women moving forward? And other interesting twists concerning the overlap between Amerindian and European Enlightenment encounters impacting Enlightenment thinking and developing into a least part of the basis of the French and American revolutions, specifically how egalitarian thought jumped from the indigenous to the advanced thinking in Europe via contact and religious conversion efforts of the French Jesuits. Our current era is short compared to the societal cycles of our past, but things have never been so global.
I may buy an e-copy to have as a reference as I checked this big book out from our County Library. Lots to think about here.
Finished the 524 pages of “The Dawn of Everything, A New History Of Humanity” by Davids Graeber and Wengrow. A challenging book, well written and somewhat academic in tone, both authors are professors at their respective British schools, Graeber of economics and Wengrow of comparative archeology.
The authors propose that there were actually few “revolutions” (as in agricultural, industrial, or technological) in history, it was more a series of small steps into and out of different styles of societal living. They take the post-ice age developments up to the Enlightenment showing examples from the record, delving into a global (Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Mesoamerican, Amerindian, Andean and other) antiquity and using the data accumulated from the last 50 years of archeology, ethnology, and paleontology to reconstruct the sequence of events that leads us to our current state.
The history of burials and the excavations of large ancient cities points to a history that was less top down or authoritarian than previously thought. Rather, they propose a record showing adaptability of council leadership based on “1 – the freedom to move away or relocate from one’s surroundings; 2 – the freedom to ignore or disobey commands issued by others; and, 3 – the freedom to shape entirely new social realities” (p. 503).
In the cycle of rise and fall, societies often didn’t “fail”, they often dissolved into a new form of society, constantly evolving new forms of self-governance. Major cities and the well planned ritual sites were cooperative in their building, often with large groups converging on a site during winters to build both dwellings and temples then scattering to gather, hunt and farm.
The domination of others was less a trend than trading with others. When dominion did occur, it was normally short lived and societies moved on when the cycle inevitably broke. Long lasting “civilizations” like the high periods of Egypt did not devolve into “dark ages” as they ended but rather transformed into other stable societies capable of sustaining their people. Slavery and war are examined in great detail, the presence of ritual human sacrifice dates well back in the record, but is more unusual than what I think of when I think of say Inca or Mayan rituals.
At the end of the book, they wrestle with the questions how did we get “stuck” in our current authoritarian, global mess? Is there hope we can extricate ourselves? What is the role of women moving forward? And other interesting twists concerning the overlap between Amerindian and European Enlightenment encounters impacting Enlightenment thinking and developing into a least part of the basis of the French and American revolutions, specifically how egalitarian thought jumped from the indigenous to the advanced thinking in Europe via contact and religious conversion efforts of the French Jesuits. Our current era is short compared to the societal cycles of our past, but things have never been so global.
I may buy an e-copy to have as a reference as I checked this big book out from our County Library. Lots to think about here.