ANTH Quiz 3

Exchange can take place through

Principle of reciprocity

Principle of redistribution

Market principle

3 types of reciprocity

1. Generalized

2. Balanced

3. Negative

Generalized reciprocity

Giver gives w/out expecting s/thing in return

• No account is kept of acts of giving or receiving

• Between people w/ close personal ties (e.g., members of the same family or band)

Generalized reciprocity is a characteristic of bands because

They share what they hunt/gather/fish w/ other members of their band

• The spirit of sharing is so strong that many foraging groups lack an expression for "thank you."

balanced reciprocity

the giving and receiving of goods of nearly equal value with a clear obligation of a return gift within a specified time limit

negative reciprocity

A mode of exchange in which the aim is to get something for as little as possible. Neither fair nor balanced, it may involve hard bargaining, manipulation, outright cheating, or theft.

Redistribution

a system where large quantities of food and other goods are produced.

The masses are collected by a central authority or elite group.

• elite retains a substantial portion and uses it

• the rest is given back (i.e., redistributed) to the

masses during certain occasions (e.g., ceremonies)

- Different people get different stuff depending on what they need.

The market principle

Process of exchange determined by impersonal market forces (not by personal, social, or power

relationships)

Political Organization

a society's formal and informal institutions that regulate a population's collective acts

4 types of political organization

band, tribe, chiefdom, state

Political Science

Focuses on societies that have a state-type political organization

Political anthropology

Focuses on societies that have the other 3 types of political organization(band, tribe, chiefdom

band leader

Usually male

- first among equals

- Achieved status

- prestige, no real political power

- Offers advice and suggestions, no way to enforce them, but people usually follow them.

Means of punishment in bands

Gossip, ridicule, avoidance

• These can make the guilty party leave the band

Conflict resolution in bands

Between 2 groups:

• One group leaves to join another band • or forms a new band

- Between 2 individuals

• One individual leaves to join another band

• Public physical confrontation (e.g., wrestling match, fist fight)

• Public song duel Bands

Traditional conflict resolution among the Inuit or Eskimo

Dealt w/:- Occasional female infanticide

- Polygyny

• Wife stealing

- 2 options for the offended husband:» kill the offender and start a series of killings that could extend over several generations,» Or challenge the offender to a public song duel

The Village Head

• Leader of a single village

• Common in small horticultural villages

The Big Man

Leader of a region (group of villages)

• Regional authority

Chiefdom

In-between tribe and state

• a kin-based society w/

• inequality

• formal centralized government

• permanent political structure

Office

a gov't position that must be refilled when it is vacated bydeath/, retirement/resignation

Polynesian chiefdom

All people descended from the same ancestors

• position of each individual in society based on

seniority of descent

• i.e., power, wealth, prestige, access to

resources, rights, and duties

chief

usually male .

• He was the most senior male in (a direct line of)

descent

• oldest son of oldest son of

oldest son....of oldest son of

the founding couple

state

It encompasses many unrelated people within

its territory

• has centralized government with power to

collect taxes, draft people for work or war, and

issue/enforce laws

State vs. chiefdom

Basic similarities

• Permanent political structure with offices

• Formal centralized government

• inequality

- differences among groups/individuals in wealth,

power, prestige, etc.

Main difference

• Chiefdom is a kin-based society, state is not .