[D66] Ultrasocial: The Evolution of Human Nature and the Quest for a Sustainable Future

[René Oudeweg]

(Frappante conclusie, neoliberalen en liberalen zijn eigenlijk 
ultrasocialisten omdat ze het superorganisme, genaamd industriële 
civilisatie, koste wat kost in stand willen houden ten koste juist van 
het vrijheidslievende individu! Een ander woord voor arbeidsdeling is 
immers Technologie.)

cambridge.org
Ultrasocial | Environmental policy, economics and law

6–7 minutes

Academic
Ultrasocial
The Evolution of Human Nature and the Quest for a Sustainable Future

£14.99

     Author: John M. Gowdy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York

     Date Published: August 2021
     format: Hardback
     isbn: 9781108838269

Description


     Ultrasocial argues that rather than environmental destruction and 
extreme inequality being due to human nature, they are the result of the 
adoption of agriculture by our ancestors. Human economy has become an 
ultrasocial superorganism (similar to an ant or termite colony), with 
the requirements of superorganism taking precedence over the individuals 
within it. Human society is now an autonomous, highly integrated network 
of technologies, institutions, and belief systems dedicated to the 
expansion of economic production. Recognizing this allows a radically 
new interpretation of free market and neoliberal ideology which - far 
from advocating personal freedom - leads to sacrificing the well-being 
of individuals for the benefit of the global market. Ultrasocial is a 
fascinating exploration of what this means for the future direction of 
the humanity: can we forge a better, more egalitarian, and sustainable 
future by changing this socio-economic - and ultimately destructive - 
path? Gowdy explores how this might be achieved.
         · The concept of human ultrasociality provides the reader with 
a new framework for evaluating human social evolution, history, and 
current politics · Recognizing that the human economy has evolved into a 
kind of superorganism whose 'needs' override those of individuals within 
the system provides a powerful argument for progressive, interventionist 
policies · Provides a long-term view of the future guided by projections 
of future climate change and the fate of past societies that failed to 
change the evolutionary paths they were on

     'Building on fresh understandings of evolution, this amazing book 
revolutionizes our understanding of the past and explores a future in 
which our humanity may be rekindled on a planet likely to be too hot to 
sustain conventional agriculture. A tour de force.' Peter G. Brown, 
McGill University

     'The evolutionary economist John Gowdy has written a grand 
narrative tracing how over thousands of years the global human society 
has become complex, stratified, and interconnected, turning into a vast 
self-regulating superorganism. And now this superorganism has fallen 
prey to the ideological virus of neoliberalism, which subordinates the 
well-being of individuals to the needs of the global market. Ultimately, 
Ultrasocial is a scathing indictment of neoliberal ideology and market 
fundamentalism from the evolutionary point of view.' Peter Turchin, 
University of Connecticut and author of Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years 
of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth

     'Gowdy puts forward the provocative case that as we came under the 
yoke of states, humans became closer to ants and termites. Individually 
we may still be social primates, but collectively we are now closer to a 
leafcutter ant colony. A stimulating read that reworks the fabric of 
history away from a simple narrative of increasing complexity and 
prosperity, to one in which we have traded autonomy and humanity for 
power. A book that might just change your mind on what it means to be 
human.' Luke Kemp, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University 
of Cambridge

     'In this highly original, stimulating, and provocative 
interdisciplinary analysis, John Gowdy bridges the agricultural 
societies of African mound-building termites and fungus-gardening ants 
with human nature to generate deep insights into modern economics and 
sustainability.' James Traniello, Boston University