Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-mnl9s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-21T10:46:08.488Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Revisiting the spaces of societies and the cooperation that sustains them

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2025

James Brooks Open the ORCID record for James Brooks [Opens in a new window]  and
Liran Samuni Open the ORCID record for Liran Samuni [Opens in a new window]
James Brooks*
Affiliation:
Cooperative Evolution Lab, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany jamesgerardbrooks@gmail.com lsamuni@dpz.eu Institute for Advanced Study, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Liran Samuni
Affiliation:
Cooperative Evolution Lab, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany jamesgerardbrooks@gmail.com lsamuni@dpz.eu
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We embrace Moffett's call for more rigorous definitions of social organizations but raise two intersecting critiques: (1) The spaces controlled by societies are not exclusively physical, and (2) cooperation is required to maintain control over spaces, physical or otherwise. We discuss examples of non-physical societal spaces across species and highlight the top-down group cooperation challenge that is maintaining them.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e58
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Brooks, J., & Yamamoto, S. (2022). The evolution of group-mindedness: Comparative research on top-down and bottom-up group cooperation in bonobos and chimpanzees. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 47, 101205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101205CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooksey, K., Sanz, C., Ebombi, T. F., Massamba, J. M., Teberd, P., Magema, E., … Morgan, D. (2020). Socioecological factors influencing intergroup encounters in western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). International Journal of Primatology, 41(2), 181–202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-020-00147-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forcina, G., Vallet, D., Le Gouar, P. J., Bernardo-Madrid, R., Illera, G., Molina-Vacas, G., … Vilà, C. (2019). From groups to communities in western lowland gorillas. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286(1896), 20182019. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.2019CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Furuichi, T. (2011). Female contributions to the peaceful nature of bonobo society. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 20(4), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.20308Google Scholar
Samuni, L., Langergraber, K. E., & Surbeck, M. H. (2022). Characterization of Pan social systems reveals in-group/out-group distinction and out-group tolerance in bonobos. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(26), e2201122119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201122119Google ScholarPubMed
Samuni, L., & Surbeck, M. (2023). Cooperation across social borders in bonobos. Science, 382(6672), 805–809. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adg0844Google ScholarPubMed