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9780202362014

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[T]he author commendably puts reproduction at the center of human social arrangements. She has tackled an immensely complex and important subject, a synthesis of the biological propensities that we, as mammals, carry and the cultural features that are a part of our species' environment. </p> --Alice Schlegel, <em>The Quarterly Review of Biology</em></p> Laura Betzig's book is about differential reproduction and is therefore ultimately about population quality. </p> --Daniel R. Vining, Jr., <em>Population and Development Review</em></p> Laura Betzig reports two primary findings (1) despotism occurs more often in large, hierarchial states (those with three or more administrative levels above the local community) than in societies governed at or near the local community level; and (1) despotic rulers are more likely than other men to have many wives and concubines. </p> --Allan Mazur, <em>Contemporary Sociology</em></p> The value of the book is its documentation of extravagant abuse of power by males in a position to do so. </p> --Henry Harpending, <em>American Scientist</em></p>

[T]he author commendably puts reproduction at the center of human social arrangements. She has tackled an immensely complex and important subject, a synthesis of the biological propensities that we, as mammals, carry and the cultural features that are a part of our species' environment. --Alice Schlegel, The Quarterly Review of Biology Laura Betzig's book is about differential reproduction and is therefore ultimately about population quality. --Daniel R. Vining, Jr., Population and Development Review Laura Betzig reports two primary findings (1) despotism occurs more often in large, hierarchial states (those with three or more administrative levels above the local community) than in societies governed at or near the local community level; and (1) despotic rulers are more likely than other men to have many wives and concubines. --Allan Mazur, Contemporary Sociology The value of the book is its documentation of extravagant abuse of power by males in a position to do so. --Henry Harpending, American Scientist

Author Information

Laura L. Betzig is known for her studies in despotism and democracy in history as well as history of the West. In addition to this book she has also written Human Reproductive Behaviour and Human Nature: A Critical Reader. She has held positions at Northwestern University, the University of California, and the University of Michigan.

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