Primitive Communism Is Not What It Used to Be

When was male domination established in human societies, and why did it take hold? How does humanity's most distant past inform today's feminist struggles?

This new, updated edition of Primitive Communism Is Not What It Used to Be – available for the first time in English translation – is a timely and urgent contribution to contemporary debates about feminism, patriarchy, and the origins of male domination. Drawing on the accumulated knowledge of ethnology and archaeology, Christophe Darmangeat offers a critical re-evaluation of Morgan and Engels’ seminal work on primitive communism. This vast synthesis, guided by a rigorous materialist approach, renews Marxist analysis on a subject that might seem remote but is pressingly topical.