Boehm, Christopher. (1999). Hierarchy in the forest: The evolution of egalitarian behavior. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
The book examines the origin and evolution of political and social behavior in society. Boehm argues that egalitarianism circumnavigates hierarchy when the forces considered weak in the society combine to dominate the forces considered strong. The author explores the egalitarian, despotic, and formidable traits in man through bonobo and early mankind society to explain the current conflicting tendencies.
Grier, C., Kim, J., & Uchiyama, J. (2006). Beyond affluent foragers: Rethinking hunter-gatherer complexity. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books.
This book examines preconceptions of Paleolithic relics in their raw nature, in terms of diversity to model a foraging life-way, which depicts mankind in different situations. The authors argue that behavioral ecology is responsible for variability in diversity, as an element of the ethnographic view of mankind.
Panter-Brick, C., Layton, R., & Rowley-Conwy, P. (2001). Hunter-gatherers: An interdisciplinary perspective. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
This book reviews the biology, ecology, and society in the present and past existence of the hunter-gatherer approach to the socialization of mankind. The authors cover evolution, demography, and language development across diverse groups.
Solway, J. (2006). The politics of egalitarianism: Theory and practice. New York, NY: Bergmann Books.
This book explains the aspect of indigenous rights and how political colonialism, neo-liberalism, and postcolonial formation of society might affect the pace of cultural change. The author argues that the above concepts have great implications on social evolution and human nature in foraging societies.
Diefenbach, T. (2013). Hierarchy in organization: Towards a general theory of hierarchical social systems. New York, NY: Routledge.
This book reviews the organizational structure in terms of how the ranks are organized and institutionalized. The author argues that hierarchical social systems are designed to promote the dominance of one group over another. The dominance creates a false sense of acceptable differences due to social ranks.
Fein, M. (2012a). Human hierarchies: A general theory. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Fein (2012) examines the development of human hierarchies from a theoretical perspective. This book examines the creation of human hierarchies as influenced by cognitive neuroscience, anthropology, and primatology through biological and cultural evolution. The author concludes that the primate society asserts dominance through social differentiation, status creation, and centralization of the social aspect of politics in the society.
Sidanius, J., & Pratto, F. (1999). Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
The authors focus on social dominance as a conceptual framework for understanding discrimination and oppression. The authors argue that intergroup conflicts, as a result of dominance, are responsible for patriarchy and other vices that make it difficult to eliminate oppression and discrimination. The authors conclude that group-based hierarchy is propelled by social dominance in society.
Larkins, J. (2010). From hierarchy to anarchy: Territory and politics before Westphalia. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
This book examines the evolving foundation of hierarchy into a state of anarchy, as the local interests and institutions cease to function effectively, due to excessive dominance by one group over another. The author presents a conventional narrative of societal disorder as influenced by the current static and dynamic demands of the society, which cannot be met by the existing and discriminatory hierarchical orders.
Maslow, K. (2013). The egalitarian ethics. New York, NY: Transaction Publishers.
This book reviews the aspect of egalitarianism as influenced by society structures and the predominant ideology. The author notes that mankind should be proactive in social interaction to minimize instances of over dominance by a single unit in the society.
Dubreuil, B. (2010). Human evolution and the origins of hierarchies: The state of nature. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
This book explores the origin of hierarchies and how they have evolved over the years. The author notes that historical interactions created exclusive adoption of diverse norms that create different hierarchies. The author concludes that local interests and agendas shaped conventional narratives between the dynamic and passive groupings.
Dworkin, R. (1981). What is equality? Part 2: Equality of resources. Philosophy & Public Affairs 10(4), 283-345.
According to Dworkin, society that promotes equality in resources through the fair insurance model would benefit from obligations, outcome, opportunities, and rights in every sphere of human interaction. Resource equality functions comprehensively in an environment where human beings are liberated to function but within optimal range in family, economic, and social quests.
Dworkin, R. (2002). Sovereign virtue revisited. Ethics, 3(113), 106-43.
According to the reading, addressing equality issues in the fair insurance model surrounding different theorist should be complete and reflective of the roles and acculturation, as adopted by the society expected to embrace equality. Through application of informative learning, the society is put in a position to understand and appropriate the need for fair resource distribution mechanism.
Gebert, D. (2006). Improvement in the context of transformational change: a study of acquisition and privatization in Eastern Europe. Journal of leadership and organizational studies12 (4), 7-12.
This article discusses positive and negative impacts of empowerment in overseeing regional and individual transformation in response to strategies applied. Written by Gebert, the article is specific on how empowerment strategies impact organizational structural support during post crisis management. The article suggests macro and community based approach in addressing the crisis. The author concludes that improvement, as a result of transformational change, might only be temporal, especially when the society is multidimensional and proactive in handling the good and and the bad sides of egalitarianism.
Lee, J. (2001). The empowerment approach to social work practice: Building the beloved community. New York, NY: Columbia university press.
This book dwells on the theme of social justice, as an aspect of gender balance. In chapter eleven, the book reflects on the relationship between purpose of social work and social justice. In analysis, the author recommends promotion of relevant policies and legislations that are fine tuned towards creating a sustainable justice system. This system is assumed to be a vital empowerment tool.
Giddens, A., & Diamond, P. (2005). The new egalitarianism. New York, NY: Wiley and Sons.
The authors review how institutions within the society do little to completely democratize resource equality, especially in the approach of liberation as part of the new egalitarianism philosophy. The authors are categorical in defining the new egalitarianism as an ideology of progressive reform in the thinking and actions of mankind. This means that empowering the institutions concerned with resource equality is a key focus to the attainment of complete societal progress.
Moss, J. (2014). Reassessing egalitarianism. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
The author highlights philosophical views on egalitarianism in terms of egalitarian justice. This could be promoted through re-addressing and identifying imbalance of power by making every individual in the society to be autonomous and independent in taking care of his or her needs. The author concludes that reassessing egalitarianism might provide answers to the imbalance between the thinking of mankind and the general environment.
Hirose, I. (2014). Egalitarianism. New York, NY: Routledge.
The book discusses several aspects of distributive justice from a policy perspective to incorporate prioritarianism, sufficientarianism, and telic egalitarianism among others. This book examines the reasons for distributive justice in the modern society. The author argues that the populist liberalism ideology cannot deliver since the group interest surpasses the needs of the masses. Therefore, distributive justice might facilitate the process of achieving harmony as part of social interaction.
Kekes, J. (2007). The illusions of egalitarianism. New York, NY: Cornell University Press.
The author confronts political assumptions, common in the western society, that equality is the pillar that should be promoted by the government in place. The author argues that egalitarianism is illusion that deters people from witnessing unpleasant truths such as legality, morality, and reasonability. These truths determine the ideal and expected societal reaction towards the aspect of morality, responsibility, and legality of different actions. The author concludes that the illusion of equality is only meant to create the feeling of being in the same position, which is not the reality in any average society.
Foge, R. (2002). The fourth great awakening and the future of egalitarianism. Chicago, Il: University of Chicago Press.
The author synthesizes data about the past and future of America, from religious, material, and social progress as part of the egalitarian progress. The author concludes that integration of the elements of religion, material, and social progress might create a sustainable society that is self reliant and consistent. This progress might define the prospective and superlative needs of the egalitarian society, especially when idealness is replaced by practicality.
Marlow, L. (2002). Hierarchy and egalitarianism in Islamic thought. London, UK: Cambridge University Press.
The author is categorical that the Islamic perspective peddles ideological forces that might promote dominance through an ‘inverse force rule’. The author discusses the significance of religious ideology in shaping the thinking on hierarchal order in duty and functionality in the society, especially among the Muslims. The author concludes that the above condition might only promote limited harmony as social cohesion becomes difficult due to dominance.
Summary of Arguments
The sources concur that hierarchical orders existed in the previous and current societies due to social and cultural dominance by different groups. The excessive dominance has resulted in hidden conflicts in the form of class struggles and rebellion to the rules created by the dominating forces. Unlike other aspects of society development, the sources indicate that hierarchal orders are evolving. However, the dominance can be curtailed through uniting of weak forces to concur the strong forces. From a social dimension, egalitarianism is still evolving and liberalism cannot maintain that change momentum for reversing the evolution of the society.
Rationale for Choosing the Sources
The sources highlight interesting arguments on social hierarchies, egalitarianism, dominance, and the evolving nature of the human society through group interactions. These aspects will define the foundation and arguments for answering the research question. Besides, the sources are from case studies, academic books, and other articles that provide literature for developing arguments within the proposed research topic. In addition, the sources are from reputable authors, with diverse writings on egalitarianism. This means that information obtained from these sources are authentic.