Overview

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2023 A WATERSTONES BOOK OF YEAR FOR POLITICS 2023 ‘I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book’ Sathnam Sanghera ‘By thinking about gendered inequality as rooted in something unalterable within us, we fail to see it for what it is: something more fragile that has had to be constantly remade and reasserted.’ In this bold and radical book, award-winning science journalist Angela Saini goes in search of the true roots of gendered oppression, uncovering a complex history of how male domination became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present. Travelling to the world’s earliest known human settlements, analysing the latest research findings in science and archaeology, and tracing cultural and political histories from the Americas to Asia, she overturns simplistic universal theories to show that what patriarchy is and how far it goes back really depends on where you are. Despite the push back against sexism and exploitation in our own time, even revolutionary efforts to bring about equality have often ended in failure and backlash. Saini ends by asking what part we all play – women included – in keeping patriarchal structures alive, and why we need to look beyond the old narratives to understand why it persists in the present.

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9780008586775

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'I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book. And for such a serious topic, I was surprised to be greatly entertained too. Angela is the best possible guide' Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland 'This is a truly excellent, important and insightful book. By unpacking the terms patriarchy and feminism , Saini reveals that the words themselves have complex histories. She reminds us to critique every piece of evidence and wade back through centuries of misunderstanding, misrepresentation and mistruths. A glorious work!' Janina Ramirez 'Based on extensive interviews with leading experts, this wide-ranging book injects new life into debates on the origins of patriarchy. Saini shows how much theorising about the roots of gender inequality is a racket, resting on shaky assumptions about human biology and social norms, and serving to naturalise what it should seek to question: the penetration of household and family relations by predatory systems of power and exploitation' David Wengrow, Professor of Comparative Archaeology at UCL and author of The Dawn of Everything

'In a world sewn together by the myth of permanence, The Patriarchs offers a portal to possibility: the way things are is not necessarily how they could have been. Male supremacy was never inevitable; it was a political choice. Once again, Angela Saini has the receipts. She is scientific journalism at its best - equally engaging and enraging in her forensic denaturalization of power' Alok Vaid-Menon, author of Beyond the Gender Binary 'The prose is sparkling, the information is richly textured, and the insights are plentiful. The Patriarchs is essential reading for anyone interested in how the legacy of the past continues to shape the relations between women and men, and how women have struggled to throw off its yoke' David Livingstone Smith, author of Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization 'The Patriarchs helps us grapple with the big questions about the deep histories and present battles over power, gender relations, and women's experiences in a world that often seems bent on keeping us down' Rebecca Futo Kennedy, chair of Classical Studies, Denison University 'The Patriarchs compels us to look beyond what is and what was, and imagine what could be' Jennifer Shahade, author of Chess Queens 'The Patriarchs cements Saini's status as a writer of the highest calibre . . . [in] The Patriarchs the reader is sure to be informed, infuriated, inspired, and spurred to action by her thorough investigations of how and why bad ideas are recycled and injustice persists' Dr. Amy Parish, primatologist, University of Southern California 'Angela Saini is one of today's most incisive and important writers about humanity's troubling turns, twists, and biases' Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection

‘The Patriarchs is an urgent and necessary wake-up call of a book, teeming with research without being taut: managing to do the difficult thing of unpicking complex theory and academia, and fluidly delivering it in an accessible, thoroughly readable way…There is so much to learn from Angela Saini, and The Patriarchs is a hopeful, essential read, not just for feminists, but for anyone with a stake in existence’ ‘I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book. And for such a serious topic, I was surprised to be greatly entertained too. Angela is the best possible guide’ Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland ‘The Patriarchs is an optimistic book, therefore. Not least, it shows that more equal societies are possible and do thrive – historically, now and everywhere. Seeing things from other cultural perspectives really does reveal the way we live in a very different light’ Guardian ‘A rigorous and illuminating read’ inews ‘A deep and incisive look at the historical origins of patriarchal structures we are still fighting today. A must-read for every feminist’ Rafia Zakaria, author of Against White Feminism ‘This is a truly excellent, important and insightful book. By unpacking the terms “patriarchy” and “feminism”, Saini reveals that the words themselves have complex histories . . . A glorious work!’ Janina Ramirez ‘Bold, incisive, and beautifully told, The Patriarchs is a truly riveting investigation into the origins and consequences of structural power. The depth and originality of Angela Saini’s thought and research is breath-taking, and world-changing. A phenomenally important and deeply enjoyable book’ Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women ‘Based on extensive interviews with leading experts, this wide-ranging book injects new life into debates on the origins of patriarchy’ David Wengrow, Professor of Comparative Archaeology at UCL

Praise for SUPERIOR: 'Magisterial, forensic' The Telegraph 'It is Saini's attention to power that will make her book essential reading for anyone concerned with understanding the history of science's preoccupation with race' The Times Literary Supplement 'Angela roundly debunks racism's core lie - that inequality is do with genetics rather than political power' Reni Eddo-Lodge, author of Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race Praise for INFERIOR: 'Angela Saini has written a powerful, compelling and much needed account that challenges deeply rooted preconceptions about sex differences' Adam Rutherford, author of Creation 'Illuminating' Economist

Author Information

Angela Saini presents science programmes on BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, and her writing has appeared in the New Scientist, the Guardian, The Sunday Times, Scientific American, Wired and the Economist. Angela has a Masters in Engineering from Oxford University, she is a former Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work has won a string of national and international awards. Angela's first book, Geek Nation, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2011, and her second book, Inferior, was the subject of a national crowdfunding campaign which will donate a copy to every state school in the UK.

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