#785 Agustín Fuentes: The Origins of Patriarchy
RECORDED ON FEBRUARY 7th 2023.
Dr. Agustín Fuentes is Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University. His research focuses on the biosocial, delving into the entanglement of biological systems with the social and cultural lives of humans, our ancestors, and a few of the other animals with whom humanity shares close relations. Dr. Fuentes was awarded the Inaugural Communication & Outreach Award from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, the President’s Award from the American Anthropological Association, and elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of books like Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature, and Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being.
In this episode, we talk about the origins of patriarchy. We start by defining patriarchy, and talk about how long it has existed for. We talk about the idea of the “naturalness” of patriarchy, and we discuss the different sources of evidence used to support it, including animal models; the “nuclear family”, and cooperative breeding; pair bonding and mating systems; polygamy; morphological correlates of male dominance; and sex differences in tool making and use. We talk about what might be the best explanations for the origins of patriarchy. Finally, we discuss how scientists are influenced by their own (political) values.
Time Links:
Intro
What is patriarchy, and how long has it existed for?
The idea of the “naturalness” of patriarchy, and the sources of evidence used to support it
Thinking about animal models
The “nuclear family”, and cooperative breeding
What is pair bonding?
Is polygamy correlated with patriarchy?
Morphological correlates of male dominance
Sex differences in tool making and use (in the Pleistocene, and more recently)
Is there any good explanation for the origins of patriarchy?
How scientists are influenced by their own (political) values
Follow Dr. Fuentes’ work!
Follow Dr. Fuentes’ work:
Our first interview: https://youtu.be/sokpvbG-tOU
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3qkFfPM
Works on ResearchGate: https://bit.ly/3g50Ici
Books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3pk9VSj
Twitter handle: @Anthrofuentes