Something that I need to do as a resource...

As many of you know, I work as a publisher's reader and for a long time worked for a book club as well, reading books in proof or manuscript and making recommendations. I think that I should probably share with my readers here at least some of what I've written down the years when it's relevant to my preoccupations.

So, today, my summaries, synopses and comments on a couple of books by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy. People often assume that neo-Darwinian thought is intrinsically inimical to feminism and progressive ideology - my view on this is that it results from over-rating some scientific polemicists whose politics tend to the Right, and simply being unaware of some of the others. If we are going to get past the know-nothingism of some sections of feminism - an attitude which has worrying parallels with the attitudes of the political Right - and the belief of many theory bunnies that scientific truth is soley and wholly and necessarily an artefact of historical contingency and hegemonic power - as opposed to being something which like every aspect of human thought including theory is to some degree affected by those things, we need to engage with science and history properly, at least as concerned laypeople.

So: ( The Woman who Never Evolved )

and ( Mother Nature )