Drama, Politics, and Evolution

Cliodynamics in Play

Bruce McConachie author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Published:27th Oct '22

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Drama, Politics, and Evolution cover

This book outlines the evolution of our political nature over two million years and explores many of the rituals, plays, films, and other performances that gave voice and legitimacy to various political regimes in our species’ history. Our genetic and cultural evolution during the Pleistocene Epoch bestowed a wide range of predispositions on our species that continue to shape the politics we support and the performances we enjoy. The book’s case studies range from an initiation ritual in the Mbendjela tribe in the Congo to a 1947 drama by Bertolt Brecht and include a popular puppet play in Tokugawa Japan. A final section examines the gradual disintegration of social cohesion underlying the rise of polarized politics in the USA after 1965, as such films as The Godfather, Independence Day, The Dark Knight Rises, and Joker accelerated the nation’s slide toward authoritarian Trumpism.

ISBN: 9783030813796

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

295 pages

1st ed. 2021