Bringing human nature back in: Autonomy or sociality?

In The Social Cage, Alexandva Maryanski and Jonathan H. Turner challenge the widespread assumption that humans are by nature ''social animals.'' They do so by examining the behavior of great ayes, who, they conclude, prefer freedom and mobility over close social ties. With the coming of post-industrial society, according to Maryanski and Turner, people may now have a chance to regain the autonomy that evolution has equipped them to enjoy. Despite weaknesses, mostly involving the ethnographic record and the assumption that men and women shave the same natural desire for autonomy, the book is a valuable attempt to return a biological perspective to sociological analysis.