"[chimpanzee] politics"

[Garson O'Toole]

In 1972 "The Descent of Woman" by the influential and controversial
writer Elaine Morgan was published. It contains a chapter titled
"Primate Politics" that I suspect fits the emerging meaning of
politics under discussion, but the work is only viewable in snippets
with GB.

http://books.google.com/books?id=OjqAAAAAMAAJ&
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Morgan_%28writer%29


On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 11:33 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "[chimpanzee] politics"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Jon, there is Frans de Waal's "Chimpanzee politics : power and sex
> among apes", first U.S. ed. 1982; a translation
> of  "Chimpansee-politiek," apparently also 1982.  I wouldn't be
> surprised if he was the coiner, although perhaps someone else has an
> article earlier.
>
> I note also that Nicholas Wade had an article in the NYTimes Jan.11
> (or Jan. 12 in print?), titled, variously, "Deciphering the Chatter
> of Monkeys and Chimps" or "In Monkey Babble, Seeking Key to Human
> Language Development ...".  Like the PBSers, Wade too doesn't think
> chimps have language.
>
> Joel
>
> At 1/13/2010 09:53 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>Tonight's PBS show, "The Human Spark," discussed chimp behavior.
>>
>>The term regularly used by the primatologists to refer to interactions
>>within groups was "chimpanzee politics."
>>
>>This sense of "politics" went undefined except for a parallel use of
>>"manipulation" and "social scheming."
>>
>>It was indicated that chimps do not use "language" but do take part in
>>"politics."
>>
>>JL
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org