Redefining the social link: from baboons to humans

A wealth of data collected during the last decade on human & nonhuman societies contains a hidden challenge to existing ideas about the nature of society & the social link. The ambiguities & discrepancies in these data have been explained by methodological difficulties & have swamped earlier attempts to define society in simple terms. Here, the problem is approached as if the discrepancies are real & the frame of reference is wrong. The implications of such a shift in framework are explored by considering alternative paradigms of society, with attention to a specific case, ie, the history of ideas about baboon society. The consequences of adopting a performative meaning of the social bond for ideas about the evolution of sociality are also investigated. It is concluded this new framework is useful in resolving several existing problems in human & nonhuman sociology, including the evolution of politics. 2 Figures, 90 References. Modified AA