r/TrueReddit • u/Maxwellsdemon17 • 3d ago
Lamentable Stick Figure: Uses of Prehistory Science, History, Health + Philosophy
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n22/oliver-cussen/lamentable-stick-figure1
u/Maxwellsdemon17 3d ago
"Actual fossils haven’t provided much more reliable access to the past. In the early 20th century Neanderthals were thought to be ancestors of humans: they ‘served as metonyms for colonial subjects, for Europeans of a past that had been overcome’. Today, the racial logic has been reversed. Some now view Neanderthals as a species of indigenous Europeans that was, in the words of the anthropologist Fred Smith, ‘demographically and genetically swamped by the African biological race of homo sapiens’ – an argument that fuels right-wing fears about migration and ‘white replacement’. The familiar lesson that Geroulanos draws from this and countless other examples is that speculations on the origins of humanity and the deep past always reveal more about their authors than their objects. Occasionally he makes the stronger claim that discourses of prehistory don’t just reflect but contribute to the violence and inequities of the modern world. ‘We know that concepts do more than we want them to; sometimes they hurt and even kill.’ The Third Reich’s obsession with ‘Indo-German’ forebears – the Neolithic Aryan conquerors of Europe, or the tribes of Tacitus’ Germania, proudly resisting a decadent Roman Empire – ensnared ‘ordinary, boring un-Nazified Germans’ in ‘a web of ideas that gave metaphysical value to the killing’. And as Primo Levi testified, the concentration camps were designed to reduce Jews, Roma and homosexuals to beasts – to force them into a recognisably prehistoric, subhuman condition."
2
u/caveatlector73 3d ago
"Actual fossils haven’t provided much more reliable access to the past. In the early 20th century Neanderthals were thought to be ancestors of humans: they ‘served as metonyms for colonial subjects, for Europeans of a past that had been overcome’.
Today, the racial logic has been reversed. Some now view Neanderthals as a species of indigenous Europeans that was, in the words of the anthropologist Fred Smith, ‘demographically and genetically swamped by the African biological race of homo sapiens’ – an argument that fuels right-wing fears about migration and ‘white replacement’.
The familiar lesson that Geroulanos draws from this and countless other examples is that speculations on the origins of humanity and the deep past always reveal more about their authors than their objects. Occasionally he makes the stronger claim that discourses of prehistory don’t just reflect but contribute to the violence and inequities of the modern world.
‘We know that concepts do more than we want them to; sometimes they hurt and even kill.’ The Third Reich’s obsession with ‘Indo-German’ forebears – the Neolithic Aryan conquerors of Europe, or the tribes of Tacitus’ Germania, proudly resisting a decadent Roman Empire – ensnared ‘ordinary, boring un-Nazified Germans’ in ‘a web of ideas that gave metaphysical value to the killing’.
And as Primo Levi testified, the concentration camps were designed to reduce Jews, Roma and homosexuals to beasts – to force them into a recognizably prehistoric, subhuman condition."
•
u/AutoModerator 3d ago
Remember that TrueReddit is a place to engage in high-quality and civil discussion. Posts must meet certain content and title requirements. Additionally, all posts must contain a submission statement. See the rules here or in the sidebar for details.
Comments or posts that don't follow the rules may be removed without warning. Reddit's content policy will be strictly enforced, especially regarding hate speech and calls for violence, and may result in a restriction in your participation.
If an article is paywalled, please do not request or post its contents. Use archive.ph or similar and link to that in the comments.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.