Humans: The 300,000-Year Struggle for Equality

by Alvin Finkel

For 300,000 years humans have pushed for equality in their societies. For the first time ever, historian Alvin Finkel brings together the evidence to tell the story of the 99% who have constantly sought to live in a society of equals.

This is a history of humanity like it's never been told before. Historian Alvin Finkel builds on the work of archaeologists, anthropologists and historians to present the very long view of the history of the human species. His focus is not on the leaders whose exploits are recounted in traditional histories, but rather on the experiences of ordinary people, the 99%, whose experiences and activities are often overlooked.

In the extensive research of many contemporary scholars, Alvin Finkel notes a common thread which most historians have ignored: the constant efforts of ordinary people throughout history to create and sustain societies based on equality of all individuals. Contrary to traditional historical writing, he finds that the earliest human communities usually treated all individuals as equals. In the histories of societies all around the world, he records how individuals who found ways to gain wealth and power have faced constant, often successful, resistance from the rest.

From the first recorded communities in Mesopotamia to the COVID-19 pandemic, this book features the resistances, uprisings, struggles, and solidarities of the majority against those seeking to dominate. The result is a fresh and challenging interpretation of the history of our species, one that casts a new light on the true nature of humans.

About the Author

Alvin Finkel

ALVIN FINKEL is a founding member of the Alberta Labour History Institute, an emeritus professor of History at Athabasca University where he taught for 36 years and the past president of the Canadian Committee on Labour History. He was the book review editor for the journal Labour/Le Travail for 11 years and is still a member of that journal’s editorial board. A prolific author, Alvin’s 13 books have sold over 150,000 copies. They include textbooks on Canadian history and the history of social policy as well as labour history and the history of the events leading to the Second World War. On the latter topic, he co-wrote The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion with Clement Leibovitz. He lives in Edmonton Alberta.

Reviews

Finkel's accessible, straight-talking account exposes the cruelties of power that developed over time, but also humanity's long history of struggling for a more equitable world. 

Joan Sangster, Vanier Professor Emeritus, Trent University

A manifesto, a synthesis, a positive statement about our capacity for empathy, Finkel offers consolation in troubled times.

Gerald Friesen, Professor Emeritus, University of Manitoba

A venturesome tour de force covering tens of thousands of years of world history.

Bryan Palmer, author Colonialism and Capitalism

Subjects (BISAC)

Subjects

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