Primitive Communism Is Not What It Used to Be: At the Origin of Male Domination (Historical Materialism Book Series, 323)

Book info: Primitive Communism Is Not What It Used to Be: At the Origin of Male Domination (Historical Materialism Book Series, 323) (Hardcover, 336 pages) – Brill, 2024. Language: English.

When was male domination established in human societies, and why did it take hold? How does humanity's most remote past inform today's feminist struggle? This new, updated edition of Primitive Communism Is Not What It Used to Be – available for the first time in English translation – represents a timely contribution to the debate, drawing on the accumulated knowledge of ethnology and archaeology. While noting the many outdated aspects of Morgan and Engels' seminal work, this vast synthesis, guided by a rigorous materialist approach, renews Marxist analysis on a theme that is at once remote and pressingly topical. Editorial Reviews Review "Darmangeat establishes with overwhelming evidence that, in fact, male domination is the norm in classless societies. [...] He demonstrates that these myths seek to justify male domination by evoking a distant disorderly past where women were in charge of society, before men set things right. [...] Darmangeat proposes a synthesis. [...] He affirms that the sexual division of labour is specific to humans. [...] Darmangeat makes an ironclad case that classless societies featured male domination." ― Erwan Moysan, Cardiff University, in: About the Author Christophe Darmangeat, Ph. D. (1965), Université Paris Cité, is associate professor in social anthropology. He is working to renew the materialist analysis of stateless societies and has published several books, including Justice and Warfare in Aboriginal Australia (Lexington).