Introduction to the Book Forum on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

Anthropology human’ other (American things, has as Anthropological ‘the been study described, of what Association makes amongst us 2023), ‘the science of human beings’ (Merriam–Webster Dictionary 2023), and ‘the comparative study of common sense’ (Herzfeld 2001: x). The Dawn of Everything: A New Hi...

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Main Author: Vill Laakkonen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Suomen Antropologinen Seura (Finnish Anthropological Society) 2023-10-01
Series:Suomen Antropologi
Online Access:https://journal.fi/suomenantropologi/article/view/137820
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author Vill Laakkonen
author_facet Vill Laakkonen
author_sort Vill Laakkonen
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description Anthropology human’ other (American things, has as Anthropological ‘the been study described, of what Association makes amongst us 2023), ‘the science of human beings’ (Merriam–Webster Dictionary 2023), and ‘the comparative study of common sense’ (Herzfeld 2001: x). The Dawn of Everything: A New History of  Humanity, by David Graeber and David Wengrow (2021), offers us an important suggestion of what ‘being human’ means: being creative and curious. Their argument is also common-sensical in that it brings to the fore something which is incredibly obvious when stated out loud, namely, that things—politics, economics, or society at large—do not have to be the way they are. Inequality, coercion, and hierarchy are unnecessary. That history of humanity is one of experimentation, polyphony, and imagination is, at the same time, a bold and much-needed argument at a time of seeming inevitability, of imminent  ecological disaster, the mass extinction of species, dramatic world-wide disparities in wealth, health, and security, and a global political hegemony which gives us very little hope for something better.
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spelling doaj.art-740b729445684d4b9cf1081ea2de2bb72023-10-08T15:40:46ZengSuomen Antropologinen Seura (Finnish Anthropological Society)Suomen Antropologi1799-89722023-10-0147310.30676/jfas.137820Introduction to the Book Forum on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of HumanityVill Laakkonen0Tampere University Anthropology human’ other (American things, has as Anthropological ‘the been study described, of what Association makes amongst us 2023), ‘the science of human beings’ (Merriam–Webster Dictionary 2023), and ‘the comparative study of common sense’ (Herzfeld 2001: x). The Dawn of Everything: A New History of  Humanity, by David Graeber and David Wengrow (2021), offers us an important suggestion of what ‘being human’ means: being creative and curious. Their argument is also common-sensical in that it brings to the fore something which is incredibly obvious when stated out loud, namely, that things—politics, economics, or society at large—do not have to be the way they are. Inequality, coercion, and hierarchy are unnecessary. That history of humanity is one of experimentation, polyphony, and imagination is, at the same time, a bold and much-needed argument at a time of seeming inevitability, of imminent  ecological disaster, the mass extinction of species, dramatic world-wide disparities in wealth, health, and security, and a global political hegemony which gives us very little hope for something better. https://journal.fi/suomenantropologi/article/view/137820
spellingShingle Vill Laakkonen
Introduction to the Book Forum on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
Suomen Antropologi
title Introduction to the Book Forum on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
title_full Introduction to the Book Forum on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
title_fullStr Introduction to the Book Forum on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
title_full_unstemmed Introduction to the Book Forum on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
title_short Introduction to the Book Forum on The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
title_sort introduction to the book forum on the dawn of everything a new history of humanity
url https://journal.fi/suomenantropologi/article/view/137820
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