Integrates approaches from world history, environmental studies, biological and cultural evolution, social anthropology, sociology, and evolutionary linguistics to trace the evolution of humans and our complex social system, demonstrating how the strength of human institutions nevertheless brought us to the crises of today.
Studying Social, Cultural, and Biological Evolution
This book presents a concise yet comprehensive survey of methods used in the expanding studies of human evolution, paying particular attention to new work on social evolution.
The revised edition offers an in-depth exploration of the historical, cultural, and political developments in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa from 1880 to 1985. It incorporates updated research and perspectives, providing a comprehensive analysis of the region's colonial past and post-colonial challenges. This edition aims to enhance understanding of the complexities and dynamics that have shaped modern Francophone African societies.
Patrick Manning follows the multiple routes that brought Africans and people of African descent into contact with one another and with Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In joining these stories, he shows how the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean fueled dynamic interactions among black communities and cultures and how these patterns resembled those of a number of connected diasporas concurrently taking shaping across the globe. Manning begins in 1400 and traces the connections that enabled Africans to mutually identify and hold together as a global community. He tracks discourses on race, changes in economic circumstance, the evolving character of family life, and the growth of popular culture. He underscores the profound influence that the African diaspora had on world history and demonstrates the inextricable link between black migration and the rise of modernity. Inclusive and far-reaching, The African Diaspora proves that the advent of modernity cannot be fully understood without taking the African peoples and the African continent into account.
The book explores how external demand for slaves from both Western and Eastern buyers significantly influenced the development of an active slave trade within Africa. It highlights the complex interplay between local practices and global market forces, shedding light on the profound impact of slavery on African societies. Through this lens, it examines the economic and social ramifications of the slave trade, offering a nuanced understanding of its historical context.