Talk Nation Radio: Brian Ferguson: War Is Not Built into Homo Sapiens

Brian Ferguson is a Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. He is an expert in the anthropology of war, including ethnic conflicts, tribal warfare, the impact of expanding states on indigenous war patterns and the collapse of states. His 1995 book, Yanomami Warfare: A Political History, challenges popular assumptions about the Yanomami tribe in the Amazon, and has sparked debate within his field. Ferguson is director of the MA program in Peace and Conflict Studies as Rutgers University Newark. Additional reading:

A general statement about human nature and war: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/war-is-not-part-of-human-nature/

A general overview of research findings on war:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233652423_Ten_Points_on_War

On the “Fierce” Yanomami:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285635568_History_explanation_and_war_among_the_Yanomami_A_response_to_Chagnons_Noble_Savages

A broad statement about archaelogy and the antiquity of war:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273367168_Archaeology_Cultural_Anthropology_and_the_Origins_and_Intensifications_of_War

Newest paper on masculinity and war, with reference to human nature debates:
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/711622

Total run time: 29:00
Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.

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