Hierarchie v pralesích - Evoluce rovnostářského chování – Boehm Christopher (2020)

Are people essentially hierarchical or egalitarian beings? The book 'Hierarchies in the Jungles' attempts to answer this question by examining the evolutionary roots of our social and political behavior. Based on the analysis of various models of behavior in human and ape communities, anthropologist Christopher Boehm presents the thesis that egalitarian formations are actually hierarchies in which the weak unite their forces to subdue the strong. The publication explores the origins of these contradictory modes of behavior in chimpanzees, bonobos, and early human communities in the Arctic, both Americas, Australia, and Africa. The author analyzes the social structures of hunter-gatherers, tribal communities, and modern states, presenting explanations of how these contradictory tendencies manifest within them. 'Hierarchies in the Jungles' defines a new area of research in biological and evolutionary anthropology by expanding the scope of these sciences to fundamental questions of political and social behavior in humans. Thus, the book serves as a crucial source in the research of the evolutionary nature of human altruism.