Humans

The 300,000-Year Struggle for Equality

New!

Historian Alvin Finkel builds on the work of archaeologists, anthropologists and historians to present the very long view of the history of the human species. His focus is not on the leaders whose exploits are recounted in traditional histories, but rather on the experiences of ordinary people, the 99%, whose experiences and activities are often overlooked. From the first recorded communities in Mesopotamia to the COVID-19 pandemic, this book features the resistances, uprisings, struggles, and solidarities of the majority against those seeking to dominate. The result is a fresh and challenging interpretation of the history of our species, one that casts a new light on the true nature of humans.

Chapter Contributors Pages Year Price
In this introductory chapter, the author explains that most histories examine the course of events from the perspective of elites, whereas this book embraces the method of social historians and …
9 $0.90
In this chapter, the author examines early hunter-gatherer societies, first looking at Sapiens, Neanderthals and then various peoples in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas. He finds …
31 $3.10
This chapter looks at the advent of agricultural societies and sedentary lifestyles, it inspects what effect these developments had on the egalitarian values of their foraging ancestors …
36 $3.60
This chapter discusses the resistance of ordinary people to the ruling of elites as societies became increasingly stratified. It explores slave revolts, popular rebellion and religious movements …
43 $4.30
This chapter looks at the arrival of feudalism and then capitalism across the world. It reviews instances of resistance to hierarchical rule and serfdom by peasants in Europe, Indigenous …
37 $3.70
This chapter discusses the beginnings of European Imperialism during the early 1500s across the globe. It recounts resistance to conquest, forced labour and religious conversion against European …
35 $3.50
This chapter looks at worker resistance to the European imperialist and capitalist agenda from 1500 up to the First World War. It discusses the demands for collective rights and social democracy …
38 $3.80
This chapter explores ways in which Indigenous peoples, black people and immigrant populations resisted enslavement, forced labour and the wage in North and South America and Australia, as well …
31 $3.10
This chapter examines popular resistance during the First World War and its aftermath. It also reviews the efforts to find a more humane alternative to the capitalist economic system, …
48 $4.80
This chapter discusses how, as the supremacy of European imperialism was replaced by the imperial power of the United States and the Soviet Union after WWII, popular resistance in the form of …
45 $4.50
This chapter looks at the supremacy of neoliberalism in advanced capitalist societies, particularly in the midst of the dissolution of the Communist bloc, and the increasing disparity between …
40 $4.00
This chapter examines the growth of the environmental movement in response to the mounting climate crisis perpetuated by capitalist priorities. It explores the response to pandemics in the late …
11 $1.10
This chapter looks at the legacy of popular resistance movements in our history and asks how a species that for most of its existence was largely cooperative, egalitarian and peaceful could have …
6 $0.60