The Dawn of Everything

A New History of Humanity

De: David Graeber, David Wengrow

Narrado por: Mark Williams

"An all-encompassing treatise on modern civilization, offering bold revisions to canonical understandings in sociology, anthropology, archaeology and political philosophy that led to where we are today."—The New York Times

A dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.

For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike—either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. David Graeber and David Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction to powerful critiques of European society posed by Indigenous observers and intellectuals. Revisiting this encounter has startling implications for how we make sense of human history today, including the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself.

Drawing on pathbreaking research in archaeology and anthropology, the authors show how history becomes a far more interesting place once we learn to throw off our conceptual shackles and perceive what’s really there. If humans did not spend 95 percent of their evolutionary past in tiny bands of hunter-gatherers, what were they doing all that time? If agriculture, and cities, did not mean a plunge into hierarchy and domination, then what kinds of social and economic organization did they lead to? The answers are often unexpected, and suggest that the course of human history may be less set in stone, and more full of playful, hopeful possibilities, than we tend to assume.

The Dawn of Everything fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom, new ways of organizing society. This is a monumental book of formidable intellectual range, animated by curiosity, moral vision, and a faith in the power of direct action.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

©2021 David Graeber and David Wengrow (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

Short-listed, Orwell Prize, 2022

Long-listed, Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year, 2021

Long-listed, NPR Best Book of the Year, 2021

Long-listed, Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, 2021

It's all more complicated

That's the central theme of this book, it's all more complicated than the traditional narratives would have us believe. Hunter/Gatherers were not all egalitarian nomads, Agriculture was not an inevitable step leading to booming population, hierarchies, and slavery. And things don't have to be the way they are today because of this linear evolution. It's both a confusing and a hopeful view, if you look at it the right way. There was much I learned from this book, especially affecting how I view history, but also just a wealth of facts I hadn't known. It was so overwhelming that I found myself zoning out at times, which is one reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars. It certainly in one way merits 5 stars, but in evaluating it from an audiobook perspective, it's just a lot to take in by listening, unless you sit with it totally focused and taking notes. That's not how I listen, and I think not how many people listen. I think to get the most from this book one would have to listen with such focus, or get a print version. There were also a few, mostly minor complaints, such as debunking hypotheses that didn't really need debunking, but overall it's really quite a good book with good narration, and I recommend it to anyone remotely interested in ancient history.

A Guide to Unlearning

It's hard to overstate the value of this book. It doesn't matter how many things in it you might find objectionable - it simply asks the reader to think again - to try to unlearn what is clearly a coercive framework of history promoted by "Western" (European) institutions (economic and political). Just the first chapter alone should cause you to question everything you've accepted about the "supremacy" of enlightenment thinking (not least the fact that it was founded upon indigenous philosophy from the Americas). But just as a resource alone you should have this book. So, listen, because the reader is excellent - but also buy a print copy (or photocopy the notes section from a book you check out from your library) so you can investigate all the claims made. Learn to Unlearn and then look with fresh eyes on every "just so" story handed to you as if it was common sense.

Recommended

This is a very good book and very well read. The downside is it could have been half its length. It’s always interesting but tends to be cyclical and repetitious.

Most Excellent

Clever, witty & thought provoking! Inspires hope that major change in the world is possible for the well-being of all. Would have been really cool for an accompanying PDF to have images of the sites & ancient artifacts mentioned in the book. There's so much intriguing information about human life in the past; I will be giving it another listen in the future!

Paradigms Lost

Fascinating history and analysis outlining why current social and governmental thinking is carried forward inside of assumed rules for conduct. Examination of historical cultures is used to demonstrate how the assumed rules developed and continue to be dominant now. Be ready to question how different cultures really are.

On the subject of The State

The comparing of the Indigenous models to the European models of State is very accurate.

Thought provoking history of humanity

Considers emerging evidence that the traditional paradigm we all learned in grade school about how human culture evolved may not be correct, and that early human political organization may have been quite diverse. A well written and thought-provoking read for laymen.

over all good.

audio was good. Seemed to lack direction at times. definitely not what I was expecting,. some excellent points with fresh perspective. I liked some sof there approach and the concept of the book...

Fascinating and invigorating

This book holds the seeds of creative inspiration and cautionary guidance scaling from the home to the nation.

Incredible breadth of research

The range of case studies and depth of reanalysis are phenomenal. Everyone interested in political economy should read this.