Work, Sex and Power

Willie Thompson

Description

This is the history of the world, from the origins of the Cosmos to the present day, seen through three major narratives: work, sex and power - the forces that have done more than any other to shape the world as we see it now.



It expertly explores the foundations of our developing society by showing how these grand themes have recurred throughout the various phases of global history. From communities of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, through feudalism and onto the capitalistic machine-civilisation of recent centuries, Willie Thompson takes us on a journey that is fundamentally opposed to mainstream histories which concentrate on monarchs, politicians and military commanders.



At the centre of this book lies the interaction between humans and their environment. By exploring history in this way, it reveals a simple yet powerful materialist understanding of how we got to where we are today, and opens a door to a different reading of our world.
Preface and Acknowledgements

Historical Timeline

Introduction: The Fabric of History

1. Cosmos, Creatures and Consciousness

2. Cooperation, Stone, Bone and Dispersal

3. The Neolithic Transformation and Its Consequences: Settlement, Wealth and Social Differentiation

4. Gender Differentiation, Sex and Kindred

5. Status Differentiation, Hierarchy and Hegemony

6. Exploitation and Violence

7. Ethics, Ambitions, Crime and Punishment

8. The Origins of Belief in the Supernatural and the First Salvation Religions

9. Monotheism

10. Imagined Communities: Signs and Symbols, Identities and Nations

11. A Broad View – The Rhythm of Empire

12. Human Reality in Transformation: Modern Population, Migration and Labour

13. Inhuman Powers: Capitalism, Industry and Their Consequences

14. No Such Thing as a Free Lunch: Trade-Offs, Opportunity Cost and the Dynamic of Unintended Consequences

15. Social Critique

16. Socialism: Its Promise and Paradox

17. Desperately Seeking Significance

Notes

Index

Sujets

• Social History
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• Revolutions
• Revolutionary
• Ancient history
• Revolution
• Industrial Revolution
• Bronze Age
• Hominini
• World

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 février 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783712724
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Work, Sex and Power

Work, Sex and Power

The Forces that Shaped Our History

Willie Thompson

First published 2015 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA

www.plutobooks.com

Copyright © Willie Thompson 2015

The right of Willie Thompsonto be identiîed as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN ISBN ISBN ISBN ISBN

978 0 7453 3341 0 978 0 7453 3340 3 978 1 7837 1272 4 978 1 7837 1274 8 978 1 7837 1273 1

Hardback Paperback PDF eBook Kindle eBook EPUB eBook

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.

10

9

8

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6

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4

3

2

1

Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Text design by Melanie Patrick Simultaneously printed digitally by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, UK and Edwards Bros in the United States of America

Preface and Acknowledgements Historical Timeline

Contents

Introduction: The Fabric of History  1. Cosmos, Creatures and Consciousness  2. Cooperation, Stone, Bone and Dispersal  3. The Neolithic Transformation and its Consequences: Settlement, Wealth and Social Differentiation  4. Gender Differentiation, Sex and Kindred  5. Status Differentiation, Hierarchy and Hegemony  6. Exploitation and Violence  7. Ethics, Ambitions, Crime and Punishment  8. The Origins of Belief in the Supernatural and the First Salvation Religions  9. Monotheism 10. Imagined Communities: Signs and Symbols, Identities and Nations 11. A Broad View – The Rhythm of Empire 12. Human Reality in Transformation: Modern Population, Migration and Labour 13. Inhuman Powers: Capitalism, Industry and their Consequences 14. No Such Thing as a Free Lunch: Trade-Offs, Opportunity Cost and the Dynamic of Unintended Consequences 15. Social Critique 16. Socialism: Its Promise and Paradox 17. Desperately Seeking Signiîcance

Notes Index

ix x

1 9 20

27 35 55 78 99

112 130 145 164

176 187

203 219 229 243

251 268

‘People make their own history, but they do not make it out of whole cloth; they do not make it out of conditions chosen by themselves, but out of such as they înd close at hand.’ Marx

‘History is not the realm of happiness.’ Hegel

‘Every document of civilization is also a document of barbarism.’ Walter Benjamin

‘Who, whom?’ Lenin

Preface and Acknowledgements

The structure of this volume is thematic, and consequently historical situations and events which appear in one chapter, such as sex or religion, are on occasion discussed later on from a different angle in another context. Some of the chapters are mostly thematic with examples drawn from a variety of very different historical eras, others have a more chronological slant. My modest intention is to try, in a popular fashion, to examine historical development over an extended period and global scope and make linkages where appropriate to the structures of human interaction in context and situation. The opening sentence of Michael Mann’s four-volume masterpiece,The Sources of Social Poweris: ‘This book is bold and ambitious.’ Attempting to discuss similar themes within a single volume feels more like megalomania, and I am particularly conscious of Flaubert’s remark (also quoted by Mann) that historical writing is ‘like drinking an ocean and pissing a cupful’. Much that could be included has of necessity to be omitted. Nevertheless I think that the project is a worthwhile one and my hope is that it will encourage readers to engage not only with the themes which are addressed here but also the historians referred to in the following pages. For rendering dates I use the modern forms of Common Era (CE) and Before Common Era (BCE) in place of the older forms still widely used, AD and BC. Occasionally, when relevant in dealing with very long stretches in the past, Before Present (BP) is employed. When quoting from texts written in American English I have for consistency’s sake changed the spelling (apart from titles) into British English. Bibliographical Note – the historiographical area surveyed by this volume is so broad that an appropriate bibliography would be as long as the volume itself – and would then still be inadequate. The texts that have been of most relevance to this sketch are referenced in the endnotes. Thanks are due to friends and colleagues who have enlightened me greatly in discussion of these themes, particularly Myra Macdonald who has read the text and made many acute and helpful suggestions on both content and style (errors of fact and interpretation are of course my own). Appreciation is also due not least to my ever helpful and endlessly patient editor at Pluto Press, David Castle.

Willie Thompson May 2014