Photo by: Purwo Kuncoro

New Survival Symposium Videos Explore the Evolution of Human Alliances

Francis Fukuyama presenting a talk at the 2019 Leakey Foundation Survival Symposium. Photo: Getty Images for The Leakey Foundation

At a moment when society feels dangerously polarized, fragmented and unstable, the Leakey Foundation Survival Symposium “Our Tribal Nature: Tribalism, Politics, and Evolution” offers a forum for understanding our human urge to form alliances.

This symposium was held on September 19, 2019. It brought together eight luminaries from different fields to examine the evolutionary origins and function of tribalism, our social transition from tribes to states, and the role group identity plays in our increasingly divided world. Videos from this event are now available to watch and share.

The symposium was moderated by Sebastian Junger, award-winning filmmaker and New York Times bestselling author of Tribe, War, The Perfect Storm, Fire, and A Death in Belmont. Speakers Mahzarin Banaji, Alison Brooks, Molly Crockett, Francis Fukuyama, Joshua Greene, Polly Wiessner and Richard Wrangham presented short talks that explore the role our tribal instincts play in building communities — and tearing them apart through partisanship, racism, and xenophobia.

Watch the videos below or click here to watch them on our YouTube channel.

This playlist contains nine videos from “Our Tribal Nature: Tribalism, Politics, and Evolution.” Click the upper right corner of the video to see the complete collection.


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