The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
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- Create Date：2021-10-19 10:51:00
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：David Graeber
- ISBN：077104982X
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Summary
Renowned activist and public intellectual David Graeber teams up with professor of comparative archaeology David Wengrow to deliver a trailblazing account of human history， challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution--from the development of agriculture and cities to the emergence of the state， political violence， and social inequality--and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation。
For generations， our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike--either free and equal innocents， or thuggish and warlike。 Civilization， we are told， could only be achieved by sacrificing those original freedoms， or alternatively， by taming our baser instincts。 Graeber and Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction to powerful critiques of European society posed by Indigenous observers and intellectuals。 Revisiting this encounter has startling implications for how we make sense of human history today， including the origins of farming， property， cities， democracy， slavery， and civilization itself。
Drawing on path-breaking research in archaeology and anthropology， the authors show how history becomes a far more interesting place once we learn to throw off our conceptual shackles and perceive what's really there。 If humans did not spend 95% of their evolutionary past in tiny bands of hunter-gatherers， what were they doing all that time？ If agriculture， and cities， did not mean a plunge into hierarchy and domination， then what kinds of social and economic organization did they lead to？ What was really happening during the periods that we usually describe as the emergence of the state？ The answers are often unexpected， and suggest that the course of human history may be less set in stone， and more full of playful， hopeful possibilities， than we tend to assume。
The Dawn of Everything fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom， new ways of organizing society。 This is a monumental book of formidable intellectual range， animated by curiosity， moral vision， and a faith in the power of direct action。
For generations， our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike--either free and equal innocents， or thuggish and warlike。 Civilization， we are told， could only be achieved by sacrificing those original freedoms， or alternatively， by taming our baser instincts。 Graeber and Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction to powerful critiques of European society posed by Indigenous observers and intellectuals。 Revisiting this encounter has startling implications for how we make sense of human history today， including the origins of farming， property， cities， democracy， slavery， and civilization itself。
Drawing on path-breaking research in archaeology and anthropology， the authors show how history becomes a far more interesting place once we learn to throw off our conceptual shackles and perceive what's really there。 If humans did not spend 95% of their evolutionary past in tiny bands of hunter-gatherers， what were they doing all that time？ If agriculture， and cities， did not mean a plunge into hierarchy and domination， then what kinds of social and economic organization did they lead to？ What was really happening during the periods that we usually describe as the emergence of the state？ The answers are often unexpected， and suggest that the course of human history may be less set in stone， and more full of playful， hopeful possibilities， than we tend to assume。
The Dawn of Everything fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom， new ways of organizing society。 This is a monumental book of formidable intellectual range， animated by curiosity， moral vision， and a faith in the power of direct action。
Reviews
Andy Jones
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Graeber and Wengrow discuss how latest research and new evidence supports a reinterpretation of how human societies evolved and interacted。 Challenging the 'selfish humanity' that was first propounded by Thomas Hobbes in the 17th Century， the authors also reject Jean Jacques Rousseau's thinking around an idealised 'social contract' ， and propose a third alternative based on their research into the interactions between various Native American cultures and the European explorers/invaders。When face Graeber and Wengrow discuss how latest research and new evidence supports a reinterpretation of how human societies evolved and interacted。 Challenging the 'selfish humanity' that was first propounded by Thomas Hobbes in the 17th Century， the authors also reject Jean Jacques Rousseau's thinking around an idealised 'social contract' ， and propose a third alternative based on their research into the interactions between various Native American cultures and the European explorers/invaders。When faced with a tome that runs to over 700 pages， of which Notes and Bibliography comprise about 30%， even without an index， it's clear that this is a publication targeted at an academic audience; both the style and content make it fairly inaccessible to the lay reader， which is disappointing because contained within are some fascinating insights that extend our understanding of how civilisation has impacted human society and personal development that should be relevant to contemporary discourse around freedom of the individual and the responsibilities of good governments。 。。。more
Brandon Westlake
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