Neandertal: Us & Them – Volume 1 - limited edition book

Neandertal: Us & Them – Volume 1

Edited by Tu Neill | Foreword by Kentaro Yamada
Published by Neandertal

In a world that is constantly defined by boundaries and division, the concept of “us and them” emerges as both timeless and timely. Neandertal: Us & Them – Volume 1 gathers leading thinkers, artists, scientists, and writers to explore this primal human division from fresh, radical, and sometimes surreal perspectives. The book is the inaugural print project from Neandertal, an art and cultural platform founded by Kentaro Yamada, known for his conceptual approach to scent and material culture.

Blending memoir, theory, visual thinking, poetics, and performance writing, this volume reimagines how the categories of us and them are formed—and how they might be dismantled.

Contributors:

Anna Neill — Professor of English, University of Kansas
In “Whither the Human?”, Neill critiques the ideology of human exceptionalism, tracing its roots in evolutionary theory and colonial modernity. She examines the COVID-19 pandemic, ecological crisis, and posthumanist thought to question who gets to be fully human—and who remains “other.”

Stephen Chan OBE — Professor of World Politics, SOAS, University of London
In “Receiving the International,” Chan offers a deeply personal meditation on diplomacy, belonging, and postcolonial negotiation, exploring the political self as shaped by global systems and personal history.

Michael Neill — Professor Emeritus of English, University of Auckland
With “Home and Other Islands,” Neill reflects on memory, migration, and hybrid identity. Weaving together Irish and New Zealand narratives, he explores cultural displacement and the inheritance of empire.

Thomas Thwaites — British designer and author of GoatMan
In “Us & Them,” Thwaites recounts his attempt to become a goat, questioning human ideology, mental time-travel, and the urge to transcend our species. The essay is at once absurd and philosophical—a study in renouncing selfhood.

Barnie Duncan — Performer and Lecturer in Theatre
“On the Importance of Bringing Surrealism Back to the Stage Pt.2” is a layered, sometimes humorous exploration of surrealism, audience-performer dynamics, and social identity theory. Duncan reflects on privilege, casting politics, and the theatre as a space for catharsis and subversion.

Ericka Duffy — Writer, Artist, and scent specialist
In “Them & Us, Finite & Infinite,” Duffy draws from James Carse’s theory of infinite games to examine whether identity itself is a fixed narrative or an open-ended game. Her piece is poetic, expansive, and rooted in lived experience.

Sophia Burn — Musician and Writer
“The Sasaeng” dissects the psychology of obsessive fandom, gender identity, and power through personal vignettes and sharp cultural insight. Burn draws a line from rock stardom to vulnerability and the violence of longing.

Sam Berkson — Poet, Educator, and Social Activist
In his poetic triptych “Them & Us,” Berkson channels myth, resistance, and human fragility. Through a modern epic voice, he explores the psychology of fear, exclusion, and historical memory.

Simon Oosterdijk — Designer and Conceptual Visual Artist
His contribution “E.T. Art” presents a speculative, extraterrestrial gaze on Earthly human behaviour. Using the metaphor of alien anthropology, he challenges the viewer to see themselves as unfamiliar.

Amber Inman — Physicist
In “Contemplating ‘Us and Them’ Through the Lens of a Physicist,” Inman unpacks how the scientific method constructs observer/observed dynamics. Her essay touches on quantum theory, subjectivity, and the ethics of categorisation.