The Dawn of Everything

A critical look at our perception of ancient societies.

Ancient societies are somewhat paradoxically perceived as either very peaceful or very warlike depending on who is doing the looking. The reality is more complicated. Ancient societies have an incredible variety in social structure and norms. Likewise, our perception is very likely shaped by a reactionary stance to our encounter with these societies during the 1600’s and forward.

The authors turn a basic premise on its head. Instead of asking where inequality came from, they ask why we somehow got stuck in the particular path we did. While this is bound to be left to speculation, the authors do postulate.

They do this by establishing a new framework of freedoms and controls. Freedoms are the freedom to move and freedom to disobey. For control, it is through violence, secrecy and charisma. It is through the simultaneous loss of freedom to move and sovereign power that we then were limited in individual ability to select which society with wanted to partake in.

However, as it always goes with such topics, a critique will reveal holes. ‘The Dawn of Everything’ gets human history wrong is a cold bucket of water to cool down after reading The Dawn.