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Human agricultural economy is, and likely always was, largely based on kinship – Why?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2016

Hannes Rusch  and
Eckart Voland
Hannes Rusch
Affiliation:
Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands. h.rusch@vu.nl Peter Löscher Chair of Business Ethics, Technical University of Munich, D-80333 Munich, Germany. eckart.voland@phil.uni-giessen.de http://hrusch.de
Eckart Voland
Affiliation:
Philosophy of Biology, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, D-35394 Giessen, Germany. http://www.uni-giessen.de/cms/fbz/fb04/institute/philosophie/biophil
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Abstract

We question the sequence of evolutionary transitions leading to ultrasociality in humans proposed by Gowdy & Krall. Evidence indicates that families are, and likely always have been, the primary productive units in human agricultural economies, suggesting that genetic relatedness is key to understanding when the suppression of individual autonomy to the benefit of subsistence groups, that is, extended families, evolved.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 39 , 2016 , e112
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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