Dr. Christopher von Rueden - Faculty Author Interview (Podcasts@Boatwright)
Christopher von Rueden, assistant professor of leadership studies, discusses a recent article entitled, "Men's status and reproductive success in 33 non-industrial societies: Effects of subsistence, marriage system, and reproductive strategy," which he co-authored with Dr. Adrian Jaeggi, on Podcasts@Boatwright.
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"I'm very broadly interested in how hierarchies form in human societies, and then, how position in the hierarchy affects individuals' reproduction and health...At a theoretical level, I think it's important to study hierarchy, health, and reproduction particularly in small-scale societies because most of the human experience—in terms of the large swatch of human history and evolutionary history—has been in small-scale societies, where interactions are largely face-to-face, smaller group sizes, minimal access to healthcare, natural fertility. So what we learn about hierarchy in those contexts can tell us a lot about human evolution and how hierarchies work even in our complex, modern industrial societies."
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