Alternative history of human nature

Love is as human as war is. The idea that violence and inequality are unavoidable facts of human nature is but an alibi for the conflicts that are bringing us to the verge of existence today. It dominates because that’s how elites for ages protected and enforced their privilege and kept their power. It seems natural because the scientists claimed that evolution made men competitive and dominant. But Why Men, a book published by Hurst Publishers last year, brings plenty of evidence showing the ideological, racist, and sexist origins of this claim. This exciting book is unique in more than one way. It incorporates the best qualities of a historical thriller, political pamphlet, and scientific treatise and is a pleasure to read. It presents the history of humanity, from the evolvement of Homo Sapiens to the most recent events, from a completely new and unexpected perspective.

Excellent method

The authors, Nancy Lindisfarne, an anthropologist who previously studied and taught at SOAS University of London, and Jonathan Neale, a historian and professional writer, wrote this alternative history of human nature (p.16) with due caution. To ensure comprehensibility and reach the broadest audience, they used humour and colloquial language, but on the other hand, they preserved the scientific rigour at the highest level. They presented their version of human history not as a linear cause-effect flow of events but through an investigative approach and in individual case studies. They systematically identified the sources and meticulously evaluated their credibility. When needed, they directly addressed the issue of the method, keeping focus on the fact that who’s talking is part of what they say. In their own words, «all histories and ethnographies are coloured by the politics and prejudices of their time» (p. 232).

New knowledge

They carefully analysed the writing of authorities on human evolution and confronted these with other available sources, including more contemporary expert writings. Crucial were new technologies that were part of the new research in the field of human evolution after the 1980s, such as chemical microanalyses, DNA sampling, and radiocarbon dating, but also patient fieldwork of archaeologists in the homes of common people. The new knowledge acquired about the people who lived in pre-class and then early-class societies proved that inequality is not an inevitable aspect of human nature. Human beings evolved to be cooperative and egalitarian, and for more than 200,000 years, lived in egalitarian societies where men and women were also equal (p.2). Only when class societies and socio-economic elites appeared did men and women become unequal. Patriarchal domination and cults of male violence came with class inequality.

It presents the history of humanity, from the evolvement of Homo Sapiens to the most recent events, from a completely new and unexpected perspective.

Why Men?

The answer to the central question is also to be found between our primate heritage and the character of class society in the persistent links between economic and gender inequality. Besides, the authors point to two other crucial consequences of the discoveries about human history. One is that human beings have not forgotten that they are adapted to favour equality. This is demonstrated, claim the authors, in the fact that the hierarchies and the violent domination have been challenged and subverted again and again throughout history.

The other consequence is related to the first. To suppress dissent and secure their privilege, the elites constantly had to reconfigure class relations, including gender inequality. This is the root of human violence. And this is also the role of the conservative ideas about human evolution. They have origins in traditional and new science, but they serve as the ideology making unjust power relations «natural.» The authors provide a careful analysis of key apologists for violence and inequality, starting with Charles Darwin. They show how, in his theory of human evolution, the science of natural selection intertwines subtly with a sexist fantasy, racism, class arrogance, and imperialism (p. 313). The analysis also comprises a more contemporary work, such as The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow, labelled a «bestselling apology for inequality” (p 313).

Human beings evolved to be cooperative and egalitarian, and for more than 200,000 years, lived in egalitarian societies where men and women were also equal

Jeanne la Pucelle

Fascinating, comprehensively documented portraits of some historical rebels make reading this book a unique adventure. One of them is Jean of Arc, a fifteenth-century French teenage girl born in times of the Hundred Years War between England and France after the epidemics of the Black Death cut the population in half in the period when, across much of Europe, class conflict between lords and peasants ruled. Jean was born in a village on the border between the lands controlled by France and England. Her mission was to end endless war and to move the English out of France. The authors present her as a peasant warrior and prophet who won the love of a mass movement (p. 267). They offer a detailed, well-sourced reconstruction of her biography as an example of how the transgression of identity binaries can offer a powerful and deliberate challenge to established order and class hierarchies. They also show how the events of her life were part of a class struggle played out in a battle over gendered categories.

For the future

Not many scientific works are written in such a compelling and captivating way. When you will start reading it, you will not be able to lay it down. And apart from learning about our history as a species, this alternative history of humanity also opens up novel and unprecedented prospects for the future. Lindisfarne and Neale showed why the resistance to violence and war was preserved in the past and will most probably be preserved in the future. Thus, this evolutionary thriller, full of enigma and suspense, provides a suitable interpretative frame to recognise resistance movements and empower their voice.