Humankind: A Hopeful History

In an intellectual landscape in which bleak and pessimistic takes on human nature are the norm, Rutger Bregman’s Humankind: A Hopeful History emerges as an unusual counter-narrative. Bregman, a Dutch historian and journalist, offers a multi-disciplinary analysis that employs historical accounts, psychological research, and an array of real-world case studies. Since its publication in 2019, the book has achieved notable influence, reverberating across academic and social discussions. It underpins its narrative with a straightforward thesis—that human beings have an innate tendency toward kindness and cooperative behavior.

This guide is based on the 2020 Little, Brown and Company English Language Translation hardback.

Summary

At the heart of this academic venture is the question of what is the essential, core disposition of Homo sapiens as a species. To provide an answer, Bregman embarks on a scholarly journey that traverses examples from across time and around the world. He scrutinizes the history of Easter Island, a society often cited as a cautionary tale of resource depletion and societal collapse. Namely, Bregman argues that the prevailing narrative is distorted, offering alternative interpretations based on more recent archeological findings and historical analyses.

At the same time, Bregman presents the reader with a modern-day narrative that serves as a

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