What Led to the Creation of Social Classes?

In today's video we will explore the origin of social classes. We will look at how the development of delayed-return economic systems in the Neolithic era created dependency, and enabled the rise of patriarchy and organized warfare, which ultimately led to class stratification. We will also investigate how certain social practices like ritual human sacrifice served to solidify existing class rule. Ultimately, this video aims to refute idealist determinism and to present class society as a product of specific material conditions, there by offering a materialist lens to understand historical progress and the possibilities for overcoming inequality today. 0:00 Introduction 1:16 Hierarchy vs Egalitarianism 6:13 The Rise of Inequality: Patriarchy & War 14:08 Ideological Indoctrination: Ritual Sacrifice 15:02 Final Thoughts Reference: Cockshott, P. (2019). How the world works: The story of human labor from prehistory to the modern day. Monthly Review Press. Kelly, R. C. (2000). Warless societies and the origin of war. University of Michigan Press. Meillassoux, C. (1981). Maidens, meal, and money: Capitalism and the domestic community. Cambridge [Eng.]: Cambridge University Press. Woodburn, J. (1982). Egalitarian societies. Man, 17(3), 431–451.