Review_Author: Jeff Klein
Book_Author: Frans de Waal
Book_Title: Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes
Reference: 1998; Baltimore, MD; Harper and Row
Date: 12/13/2004
Time: 5:27:38 PM
Remote Name: 128.175.34.35
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DeWaal describes and records three changes in leadership among the Arnhem colony of chimps in a zoo in the Netherlands. Unlike the work of Jane Goodall, who did her work in the Gombe jungle, DeWaal’s work examines chimps in captivity. While this may seem to take away from the validity of the findings, the Arnehm colony is regarded as the most ecologically appropriate zoo in the world. Additionally, the dense and unrestrained jungle impairs a researchers ability to actually view the chimpanzees in such a manner in which DeWall noted the alliances built around ruling power and sex. This book also brings forth the controversial (at the time) notion among animal researchers that different animals, in this case chimpanzees, possess separate personalities that dictates their role in their community. The benefical thing about this book is that the author does not have an overt agenda. Instead, it reads as if he is just sharing his experiences and observations through his work with the chimps at the Arnhem colony. Never does the author make overt comparisons between the abilities and actions of humans and apes, instead he meticulously details the events and interactions between the chimpanzees and lets the reader make their own conclusions. While this is a strength of the research, I think that it would have been much richer if the author provides in an upcoming edition others thoughts and derivations from the findings in the book. For example, it would be interesting to see what evolutionary and political scientists and others regard the finds in the context of their research. Many researchers such as Vygotsky have suggested or out rightly stated that chimps are not able to perform cognitive tasks that a three-year-old human could master. This book shows how problematic it is to compare human and chimpanzee intelligence: it is not easy to dictate where the line of distinction lies between humans and chimps. While one could point out that language may be the defining line between humans and animals, there appears top be no distinct line between what a chimp can and cannot do. In fact, throughout the book there are wonderful examples of chimps performing problem-solving tasks that takes an enormous amount of creativity and the formation of alliances that requires not only knowledge about one’s own abilities, but also the value of the skills and personalities of other chimps in the colony. This is a wonderful book that leads one to question human nature, the delineation between man and “beast”, and also the status and purpose of politics in our society. This book is recommended to people from a variety of walks in life, from the simian anthropologist, to the state senator, to the inquisitive layman. The biggest contribution of this work is that it is easy read for a non-specialist, yet stands on its own as an very important scientific contribution.