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The causes and scope of political egalitarianism during the Last Glacial: a multi-disciplinary perspective

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Abstract

This paper reviews and synthesizes emerging multi-disciplinary evidence toward understanding the development of social and political organization in the Last Glacial. Evidence for the prevalence and scope of political egalitarianism is reviewed and the biological, social, and environmental influences on this mode of human organization are further explored. Viewing social and political organization in the Last Glacial in a much wider, multi-disciplinary context provides the footing for coherent theory building and hypothesis testing by which to further explore human political systems. We aim to overcome the claim that our ancestors’ form of social organization is untestable, as well as counter a degree of exaggeration regarding possibilities for sedentism, population densities, and hierarchical structures prior to the Holocene with crucial advances from disparate disciplines.

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Notes

  1. Political egalitarianism is a social organization in which decisions are reached through deliberation and consensus; individuals do not command authority over, or coerce, other group members; social status, honor, and positions (if and when they exist) are voluntarily granted or withdrawn, and not inherited; and individuals can freely leave their group peers or residence. Political hierarchy is a social organization with opposite characteristics.

  2. ‘Nomadic’ is here defined as semi-continuous movement after hunting and gathering grounds; ‘semi-nomadic’ is defined as hunting and gathering from a fixed local point or movement between pastures; and ‘sedentary’ refers to yearlong or permanent settlement.

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Acknowledgments

The Political Egalitarianism Project (PEP) members would like to extend their appreciation to Frans de Waal, Christopher Boehm, Larry Arnhart, Melvin Konner, Richard B. Lee, and Arnon Dattner, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Political Science Department, Gilo Center for Citizenship, Democracy and Civic Education, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Doron Shultziner

  2. Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK

    Thomas Stevens

  3. Nordic Laboratory for Luminescence Dating, Department of Earth Sciences, Aarhus University, Århus, Denmark

    Thomas Stevens

  4. Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Martin Stevens

  5. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Brian A. Stewart

  6. Department of Political Science, Northern Illinois University, 415 Zulauf Hall, DeKalb, Illinois, 60115, USA

    Rebecca J. Hannagan

  7. Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Giulia Saltini-Semerari

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  1. Doron Shultziner
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  3. Martin Stevens
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Correspondence to Rebecca J. Hannagan.

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Shultziner, D., Stevens, T., Stevens, M. et al. The causes and scope of political egalitarianism during the Last Glacial: a multi-disciplinary perspective. Biol Philos 25, 319–346 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-010-9196-4

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