Homo Sapiens: Who Are We? What Are We?

Our past, the history of our species and its evolution from non-human species, has configured our present. James C. Scott has fleshed out in disciplined fashion the continuities, discontinuities, and transitions of that vast subject with a wealth of case material drawn from human evolution, human prehistory, and our more recent history, including what we are pleased, in the spirit of self-congratulation, to call “civilization” and “progress.” It has been quite a ride. And our future? 

Recommended Reading:

James C. Scott, Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States, ISBN 978-0300182910 (available used) or in paperback new: 978-0274757091

Steve Piker, an anthropologist with a career-long interest in human evolution and social history, did field work in Thailand and the U.S.  He spent 44 years at Swarthmore College and has offered courses at four of Maine’s senior colleges.