Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Boehm, professor of anthropology and director of the Jane Goodall Research Center at the University of Southern California, ranges broadly in his quest to determine the evolutionary origins of social and political behavior. Combining an exhaustive ethnographic survey of human societies from groups of hunter-gatherers to contemporary residents of the Balkans with a detailed analysis of the behavioral attributes of nonhuman primates (chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos), Boehm focuses on whether humans are hierarchical or egalitarian by nature. His thesis "is that egalitarianism does not result from the mere absence of hierarchy, as is commonly assumed. Rather egalitarianism involves a very special type of hierarchy, a curious type that is based on antihierarchical feelings." This "reverse dominance hierarchy," as Boehm calls it, depends on the rank and file banding together "to deliberately dominate their potential master if they wish to remain equal." Boehm extends his analysis to argue that the processes of group selection originally advanced by David Sloan Wilson can account for the evolution of altruistic behavior in humans. While Boehm's hypotheses are not always persuasive, they are invariably intriguing and well documented. His presentation can be difficult for the nonspecialist, but he raises topics of wide interest and his book should gain attention. (Dec.)
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Review

Boehm has been the first to look at egalitarianism with a cold, unromantic eye. He sees it as a victory over hierarchical tendencies, which are equally marked in our species. I would predict that his insightful examination will reverberate within anthropology and the social sciences as well as among biologists interested in the evolution of social systems. -- Frans de Waal, Emory University

Chris Boehm boldly and cogently attacks a whole orthodoxy in anthropology which sees hunter-gatherer 'egalitarianism' as somehow the basic form of human society. No praise can be too high for Boehm's brilliant and courageous book. -- Robin Fox, Rutgers University

Hierarchy in the Forest is an original and stimulating contribution to thinking about the origins of egalitarianism. I personally find Boehm's ideas convincing, but whether one agrees with him or not, he has formulated his hypotheses in such a way that this book is likely to set the terms of the discussion for the forseeable future. -- Barbara Smuts, University of Michigan

The most unique and interesting feature of this clear, well written book is the way Boehm links the study of nonhuman primates (particularly chimpanzees) to traditional concepts of political anthropology. As a political scientist, I was intrigued by Boehm's suggestion that democracy, both ancient and modern, could be understood as the expression of the same natural dispositions that support the egalitarianism of nomadic bands and sedentary tribes. I expect that many scholars in biology, anthropology, and the social sciences would learn from this stimulating book. Even those who disagree with Boehm's arguments are likely to be provoked in instructive ways. -- Larry Arnhart, Northern Illinois University

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674390318
• ISBN-13: 978-0674390317
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,697,737 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evolution of Human Egalitarianism, April 21, 2000

By	Peter Gray (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

From the time I picked up this book until finishing it within 36 hours, I was captured by this excellent work on human politics from an evolutionary perspective. Boehm shows close scholarship in his summaries of hunter-gatherer and other society's ethnographic evidence bearing on politics. He also contrasts this human focus with our closest relatives, the apes, and chimps in particular. Readers may find of interest the struggle, rather than ease, with which egalitarianism appears among simple societies. The book also raises questions about the origin of human egalitarianism that will stimulate readers and research for years to come.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars infinite care and patience, great insight - a thrilling and wonderful read, August 4, 2006

By	rob foxcroft (glasgow, scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior (Paperback)

I like this book a lot.

Christopher Boehm has something interesting and important to say, and he says it with a mass of supporting evidence and persuasive argumentation.

It's not an easy read, because the thinking is deep, but it's full of interest, and he tells good stories.

This is the first time that anybody has made sense, for me, of aspects of human nature which have been puzzling me since I was a child.

If you're interested in human nature read this book - especially if (1) you are intrigued by patterns of human hierarchy and anti-hierarchy; (2)(like me) have realised that these patterns are intensely dynamic (neither "cultural" nor simply "instinctive behaviours); and (3) (also like me) have failed to make sense for yourself of what IS going on.

This is a highly distinguished book. It's hard to imagine how anybody could organise such a range of knowledge into such a gripping and persuasive account.

32 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A startling look at human altruism and how we obtained it, August 7, 2000

By	Matt Nuenke (Pleasant Hill, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This book is easy to read, revolutionary in its interpretation of the evolution of human egalitarianism and altruism, and in addition a warning about our current state of liberal democracy -- though the author does not see the danger.

The book traces out how the development of language and the use of tools and weapons, allowed our ancestors, the hunter-gatherers to overthrow the hierarchy we find in other primates. That is, males hate to be dominated, and if they can they will form coalitions and enforce egalitarianism. So for tens of thousands of years, virtually all human bands used weapons to kill upstarts who might try to dominate the group, and gossip maintained a keen eye on everyone's contribution to the group. Free-riders were suppressed, eliminated or expelled, and after time they were kept to a minimum genetically.

In addition, altruism within the group was selected for through group evolutionary strategies. That is, with this new arrangement of group cohesion and forced adherence to the group's particular ethos or moral code, the groups who had higher levels of ethnocentrism, patriotism, or altruism towards members of the group -- including willing to die for the group when battled broke out between groups -- predicted that group evolutionary strategies selected for these very traits. That is, altruism was a product of between-group warfare and competition for resources.

When humans began to form civilizations however, and with the accumulation of wealth in the form of food through the growing of crops and the domestication of animals, dominance once again took over. Through religion, actuarial practices, and coercive leadership, humans once again yielded to the authority of a central figure.

So far so good. But Boehm believes that with our present Western democracies, that all is well again. This is surprising, because by the very mechanism he so elegantly elucidates in the book, by all reasonable measures, we are now in an ecological situation where racial strife, a return of free-riders, and an end to altruism will set in. By our very form of government there is no need to abide by rules as we know them, and the people who have the genes for selfishness or the free-riders will again multiply. That is, human behavior is never fixed but is always changing. Evolutionary stable states can only exist when the environment does not change -- but it has. From welfare to shirking military duty, the new free-rider will again out-produce the once altruistic motivated solid citizen. Free-riders can hide within modern democracies, and they are not bound by the old moral codes. We are surely entering a dysgenic trend in these traits, if not in intelligence itself. So I see little optimism that what was once a wonderful mechanism for human advancement against dominance will not now slide back towards more aggressive and a selfish human nature. Fortunately, with a better understanding of the human genome, and a renewed interest in neo-eugenics, we may be able to salvage our evolved egalitarian traits once again.