This is the table of contents of the entire thesis on Homo domesticus. oscar.carvajal@utoronto.ca

1. By Oscar Carvajal, PhD ABD
University of Toronto
© All rights reserved
HOMO DOMESTICUS:
AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF HUMAN DOMESTICATION
AND HOW IT MAY INFLUENCE
THE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF DOMINATION
by
Oscar Carvajal
© Oscar Carvajal
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2. ABSTRACT
HOMO DOMESTICUS:
AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF HUMAN DOMESTICATION
AND HOW IT MAY INFLUENCE
THE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF DOMINATION
© Oscar Carvajal
The thesis of this dissertation demonstrates that in Christian theology the condition of the
human, society, and the earth (and all its subsystems) needs to be understood in light of
domestication, understood in this thesis as the influence and condition that the presence
and the conception of housing, architecture, or the human built environment (in the broad
sense) exercises on every being, particularly on humans.
This study explores domestication with an interdisciplinary approach in light of
recent scholarship within the natural and social sciences. As the notion of domestication
is used to understand the human condition, this study refers to the notion of “human
domestication.” This thesis contends that, rather than Homo sapiens, as currently
conceived, the human race would be better understood as Homo domesticus.
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3. The preliminary work, described above, leads to the main purpose of this
Christian theological study, which consists in reviewing the treatment of the notion of
domination in Christian theology in light of the notion of human domestication to suggest
an alternative. The theological review mainly includes five works, namely: James H.
Cone’s A Black Theology of Liberation on racism, Mary Daly’s Gyn/Ecology on sexism,
Gustavo Gutiérrez’s A Theology of Liberation on classism, Thomas Berry’s The Great
Work on anthropocentrism, and Sallie McFague’s The Body of God on eco-feminism.
This study finds the above Christian theological works addressing key ideologies,
very successfully assisting the understanding of domination. However, this study also
finds them failing to recognize human domestication, as described above. This study
concludes that, regardless of their outcomes, they are limited to treating domination in
terms of ideologies.
This study recommends treating the underlying dynamics of anthropological,
sociological, and ecological domination from the view of domestication, particularly of
human domestication, in order to enhance Christian theological scholarship.
Furthermore, this study suggests and briefly discusses some leading issues toward a
Christian theology of domination from a viewpoint of human domestication.
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4. DEDICATORY
iv

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
v

6. CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE
ABSTRACT ii
DEDICATORY iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v
CONTENTS vi
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1
Status quaestionis ................................................................................ 3
Thesis statement …………………………………………………… 10
Enhanced definition of domestication ............................................ 10
Domestication and the human ........................................................ 11
Human domestication and domination ............................................ 14
Christian theology and domination ........................................................ 18
Contribution ............................................................................................ 24
Methodology outline …………………………………………………… 26
Thesis outline …………………………………………………………… 28
PROLOGUE ........................................................................................................ 31
Currents in social anthropology ........................................................ 32
Domestication and natural selection …………………………………… 33
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7. 1. CHAPTER ONE
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGICAL CRITICS OF DOMINATION .................... 42
1.1. JAMES H. CONE: A BLACK THEOLOGY ................................ 43
1.1.1. A framework for “A Black Theology of Liberation” .................... 43
1.1.2. A Black Theology of Liberation ............................................ 45
1.2. MARY DALY: A FEMINIST CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY ........ 49
1.2.1. A framework for “Gyn/Ecology” ............................................ 49
1.2.2. Gyn/Ecology ................................................................................ 52
1.3. GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ:
A LATIN AMERICAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY ........ 55
1.3.1. A framework for “A Theology of Liberation” .................... 55
1.3.2. A Theology of Liberation ........................................................ 60
1.4. THOMAS BERRY: AN ECO-CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY ........ 63
1.4.1. A framework for “The Great Work” ............................................ 63
1.4.2. The Great Work .................................................................... 67
1.5. SALLIE McFAGUE:
AN ECO-FEMINIST CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY .................... 69
1.5.1. A framework for “The Body of God” ............................................ 69
1.5.2. The Body of God .................................................................... 72
1.6. CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF DOMINATION 77
2. CHAPTER TWO
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8. HUMAN DOMESTICATION .................................................................... 79
2.1. AN INTRODUTION TO TAMING AND DOMESTICATION 80
2.2. A REVISED DEFINITION OF DOMESTICATION .................... 81
2.3. INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DOMESTICATION .................... 87
2.4. A HISTORICAL CONTEXT FOR HUMAN DOMESTICATION 88
2.5. CONTRASTING ETHNOGRAPHIES:
SEDENTARY VIS-A-VIS NOMADIC ........................................... 91
2.5.1. Domestication as a cultural development ............................... 91
2.5.2. Domestication and human perception ............................... 92
2.5.3. Nomadic societies and independence ........................................... 93
2.5.4. Nomadic integrative cosmology ........................................... 95
2.5.5. Violence and justice among nomads ........................................... 95
2.5.6. Sedentism and the notion of structure ............................... 97
2.5.7. The neighbor in domesticated societies ............................... 98
2.6. DEFINING HUMAN DOMESTICATION ............................... 100
2.6.1. Built environment, domestication, and domination ................... 100
2.6.2. Life conditions and survival ....................................................... 101
2.6.3. Selection: natural or artificial? ........................................... 103
2.6.4. Domestication and the domestic ........................................... 106
2.6.5. Taming, domestication, and conditioning ............................... 108
2.7. THE HOUSE AND HUMAN DOMESTICATION INTENSIFIED 109
2.7.1. The invention of shelters: the house ........................................... 109
2.7.1.1. Architecture and the human search for origin ................... 110
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9. 2.7.1.2. Architecture and epistemology ........................................... 112
2.7.1.3. Architecture and distortion ....................................................... 113
2.7.1.4. The house and the notion of privacy ........................................... 114
2.7.1.5. The house and a cosmology of domination ............................... 115
2.7.1.6. The house and structural space ........................................... 117
2.7.1.7. Domestication: influence of the built environment’s presence 118
2.7.2. Intensification of human domestication and empire ................... 118
2.7.2.1. Domestication and the warrior empire ............................... 121
2.7.2.2. Elites, housing, and social stratification ............................... 124
2.7.2.3. Religious empire and domesticated food ............................... 124
2.8. CONCLUSIONS REGARDING HUMAN DOMESTICATION 127
3. CHAPTER THREE
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGICAL CRITIQUE OF HUMAN TAMING ....... 129
3.1. CONE’S CRITIQUE OF RACIST IDEOLOGY ................... 130
3.2. DALY’S CRITIQUE OF PATRIARCHAL IDEOLOGY ....... 134
3.3. GUTIERREZ’S CRITIQUE OF CLASSIST IDEOLOGY ....... 136
3.4. BERRY’S CRITIQUE OF ANTHROPOCENTRIC IDEOLOGY 138
3.5. McFAGUE’S CRITIQUE OF DOMINATION IDEOLOGY ....... 144
3.6. HUMAN DOMESTICATION AND THEOLOGY ................... 144
3.6.1. The domestication of Blacks and Whites ............................... 145
3.6.2. The domestication of women and men …………………… 146
3.6.3. The domestication of the poor and the rich ................................ 148
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10. 3.6.4. The domestication of nature and the human ................................ 150
3.6.5. The domestication of the earth and society ................................ 151
3.7. HUMAN DOMESTICATION AND ECO-THEOLOGY ........ 154
3.7.1. Berry’s New Cosmology and human domestication .................... 154
3.7.2. Berry’s view of Neolithic culture …………………………… 162
3.7.3. A case of unawareness of human domestication .................... 168
4. CHAPTER FOUR
HOMO DOMESTICUS AND CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY .................... 170
4.1. HUMAN EMERGENCE IN THEOLOGICAL NARRATIVE …… 171
4.2. RELIGION AND CHRISTIANITY WITHIN HUMAN
DOMESTICATION .................................................................... 173
4.3. HUMAN DOMESTICATION AND BIBLICAL THEOLOGY 179
4.4. A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY AND HOMO DOMESTICUS 182
4.5. HUMAN DOMESTICATION AND THEOLOGICAL METHOD 184
4.5.1. Praxis-reflection and human domestication ................................ 185
4.5.2. Context and human domestication ............................................ 190
4.6. THEOLOGY AND INTENSIFIED HUMAN DOMESTICATION 192
4.6.1. Loving the neighbour .................................................................... 193
4.6.2. Loving the stranger .................................................................... 195
4.7. MYSTIC SPIRITUALITY ........................................................ 196
4.8. HOMO DOMESTIC THEOLOGICAL ETHICS …………… 199
4.8. REMARKS ON THEOLOGY AND HOMO DOMESTICUS …… 209
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11. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................ 212
The built environment domesticates ........................................................ 212
The human species is Homo domesticus ............................................ 213
Christian theology both emerges in and critiques domestication ........ 213
This thesis reflects human domestication ............................................ 215
APPENDIX 1: METHODS OF TAMING ........................................................ 216
APPENDIX 2: A HISTORY OF PRE-HUMAN LIFE ................................ 223
APPENDIX 3: IDEOLOGY AS A TAMING METHODOLOGY .................... 226
1. Ideology as a cultural problem ........................................................ 226
2. Ideology and dependence .................................................................... 229
3. Wild as biological and biological as natural ................................ 232
APPENDIX 4: BEGINNINGS OF DOMESTICATION ................................ 234
APPENDIX 5: A SYNTHESIS OF EVOLUTION AND DOMESTICATION 238
APPENDIX 6: AN ACCOUNT OF HUMAN EVOLUTION …………… 244
APPENDIX 7: DEPENDENCY THEORY ........................................................ 247
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………… 251
Primary Sources …………………………………………………… 251
Secondary Sources …………………………………………………… 255
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