Hunter-gatherer groups are much less egalitarian than they seem

This image is so ingrained that it has become a cliché: hunter-gatherers divide their spoils equally among the tribe with a noble generosity absent in high-income societies. Only this is not an accurate picture, according to a review of anthropological data.

“There is no society in which there is true equality,” says a team member. Chris von Ruedenanthropologist from the University of Richmond, Virginia. What appears to be equality is actually just practical or even self-serving behavior.

Observations of the apparently equal distribution of wealth in traditional subsistence societies have led some researchers to conclude that human beings default to altruism and equality. For example, the 19th century philosopher Friedrich Engels was a friend of Karl Marx and ardent supporter of Marxism – based some of his ideas on messages about the egalitarian nature of traditional cultures.

“But this does not mean that everything needs to be shared with someone,” says von Rueden.

After reviewing the existing evidence, von Rueden and his colleague Duncan Stibbard Hawks from the University of Durham (UK) argue that some anthropologists mistake equal wealth in a community as a sign that its driving force is a desire for equality. Although some traditional subsistence societies do establish strong emphasis on equalitythis may be driven more by people's concerns that their personal choices may be limited rather than by an egalitarian ideal. For example, the Mbendjele, a population group living in the Republic of Congo, have the grievance redressal process is called ship where people demand the attention of the entire camp, and then loudly declare that their rights are being violated.

“People don't like bullying. They don't like coercion. They don't like 'big people,'” he says. Manvir Singhanthropologist at the University of California, Davis, who was not involved in the study. He believes that von Rueden and Stibbard Hawkes are right in noting that a society built on the protection of individual autonomy can appear egalitarian.

In addition to the desire for autonomy, researchers have found that equality can also be a product of self-serving behavior. Instead of giving out hunting rewards out of generosity, you can give away meat because the hunter doesn't want to be endlessly bullied for it. In support of this idea, von Rueden and Stibbard Hawkes note that frequent and “loud” demands on hunters to share food have been documented in many foraging societies. For example, observations have shown that among some !Kung communities, a culture common in Angola, Botswana and Namibia, about 34 percent of daytime conversations dedicated to complaints about stinginess.

Likewise, a society in which people are willing to share resources and help each other is not necessarily a society without social hierarchy. In some cultures, status is awarded to those who are more cooperative and social than others. For example, the Tsimane people of Bolivia believe manifestations of humility and help be the sign of a worthy person. Thus, von Rueden and Stibbard Hawkes argue that the equality that anthropologists have documented in traditional subsistence societies may be the result of intense competition to be the most impartial person in the group.

This study is “an important contribution that brings together a number of different ethnographic examples to show the range and diversity of egalitarianism,” says Jerome Lewisanthropologist from University College London. He says Engels' 19th-century image of the “noble savage” living in idyllic, principled groups is an outdated, “very discriminatory and biased view.” Like any human group, hunter-gatherers compete, disagree, and try to resolve their differences.

Lewis notes that people living in traditional subsistence societies around the world have developed “striking alternatives” to the way high-income countries organize their culture and justice. Some traditional subsistence societies have existed for more than 50,000 years and continue to exist today, which he says provides “very important lessons and alternative ways in which we might think about how we organize ourselves.”