In its pre-Nietzschean coinage ‘genealogy’ refers to the self-subjection of a present living subject under a previous, by now past or absent, state that presents itself as knowledge, an instruction, a narrative; this allows for the introduction of an element of verticality or hierarchy and thereby of a claim to be able to govern/steer what ‘happens now’, in the name of what had happened before. In this sense, Old European societies, and not only them, appear committed to the politicocentric wager of providing themselves with an arche (Greek for source of action) – an unquestioned ability to determine that society shall be in control of its fate according to its own decisions. It will prevail, in other words, against anything not located within some actor's control – evolution, for example. Upholding the wager of the absolute relevance of performative utterances under the conditions of an ultimately helpless exposure of the human flock to contingent happening means accepting that humankind replies to the onslaught of upcoming and unpredicted facts by mobilising its ‘capacity’ of being sovereign and subject, of governing and of being governed, something that Kant understood but also dignified as imperative. While our main argument in this study is directed against the overstatement of anthropological transformations separating the modern social regime from its predecessors, we also reject any denial or downplaying of the powerful innovative forces unfolding within the evolution of society.

Today, many observers of matters social and societal opt, for reasons either procedural or consensual (in fact, mostly both), to cleanse the inquiry into the present horizon by rejecting genealogy in favour of a purely presentist approach: this attitude can be cast, at least parodied, as a preference for, say, genetics over genealogy. That there exist good and valid arguments to be made in favour of this rejection is difficult to deny; it corresponds to research in biology showing a transition from evolutionary origins to evolutionary patterns, such as the study of ‘independent repetitions’ – i.e. of the fact that different forms of life have responded in identical or similar ways when exposed to identical or similar circumstances. This relativises the primary interest in initial states or initially given forms by emphasising their later environmental exposure.