Work, Sex and Power The Forces That Shaped Our History.

Format:

Book

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World history.

Historical materialism.

Marxian historiography.

Physical Description:

xi, 276 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] : London : Pluto Press, 2015.

Summary:

Which forces drive the actions of the human race? Authors from Eric Hobsbawm to Jared Diamond have attempted to answer this question. In this book, historian Willie Thompson offers his own ambitious and sweeping materialist narrative of the span of human history, identifying the key factors that have shaped human experience from before the Neanderthals to today. From communities of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers to the machine-civilisation of recent centuries, Thompson takes the reader on a remarkable journey to identify the key themes that have determined how humans have interacted with their environment throughout all phases of global history. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Cosmos, Creatures and Consciousness 9

2 Cooperation, Stone, Bone and Dispersal 20

3 The Neolithic Transformation and its Consequences! Settlement, Wealth and Social Differentiation 27

4 Gender Differentiation, Sex and Kindred 35

5 Status Differentiation, Hierarchy and Hegemony 55

6 Exploitation and Violence 78

7 Ethics, Ambitions, Crime and Punishment 99

8 The Origins of Belief in the Supernatural and the First Salvation Religions 112

9 Monotheism 130

10 Imagined Communities: Signs and Symbols, Identities and Nations 145

11 A Broad View - The Rhythm of Empire 164

12 Human Reality in Transformation: Modern Population, Migration and Labour 176

13 Inhuman Powers: Capitalism, Industry and their Consequences 187

14 No Such Thing as a Free Lunch: Trade-Offs, Opportunity Cost and the Dynamic of Unintended Consequences 203

15 Social Critique 219

16 Socialism: Its Promise and Paradox 229

17 Desperately Seeking Significance 243.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780745333403

0745333400

OCLC:

892455161