Must-Read: Carles Boix and Frances Rosenbluth: Bones of Contention: The Political Economy of Height Inequality

Must-Read: Carles Boix and Frances Rosenbluth: Bones of Contention: The Political Economy of Height Inequality: “Human osteological data provide a rich, unmined source of information…

…about the distribution of nutrition, and by extension, the distribution of political power and economic wealth, in societies of long ago. On the basis of data we have collected and analyzed, we find that the shift from a hunter–gatherer to a labor-intensive agriculture opened up inequalities that had discernible effects on human health and stature. But we also find that political institutions intervene decisively in affecting the distribution of resources within societies. Political institutions appear to be shaped not only by economic factors but also by military technology and vulnerability to invasion, leaving important questions for additional exploration.