ANTHRO1102 M8

UGA Dr. Lanning

Mobile Bands, Segmentary Societies (Tribes), Ranked Societies (Chiefdom) and Complex States

the 4 different types of sociopolitical organizations or societies that we put labels on

Social and Political Organization

considering how communities manage themselves

• cultural systems that organize, maintain and influence society

• serving social needs of community protection, maintaining internal order and organizing external relations

Mobile Bands

small groups of hunter-gatherers who move seasonally to find food and resources. typically egalitarian with little social hierarchy, and leadership is informal, based on knowledge and experience

Paleolithic and Mesolithic

all people participated in mobile foraging sociesties during this time period

Segmentary Societies (Tribes)

• first appeared during Neolithic and are larger than mobile bands, often ranging from a few thousand to tends of thousands of people

• typically rely on farming and herding and live in autonomous villages connected by kinship

• more sedentary and begin to show differences in leadership and power, often led by charismatic or respected individuals

Segmentary Societies (Tribes) TODAY

large groups made up of kinship-related villages and subgroups

• mostly egalitarian and do not have a strong central leader - instead they are connected through shared culture, language, kinship ties and common traditions

“Big Men”

segmentary societies have multiple semi-formal positions of this, like Kapauku of Papua New Gunea

• they gain their ability to influence others and take on the roles and duties of a leader through their ability to accumulate wealth, convince others help them in this endeavor and then give all of that wealyh away to other members in their larger society. It is their generosity that gains them the prestige and recognition as this title

Chiefdoms

societies w permanent settlements and a more formal economic and political structure than tribes

• led by a chief who acts as a central authority, and a social status is often based on how closely someone is related to the chief

Chiefs

organize the redisribution of surplus goods and can gather people for defense, creating a society w clear social ranking and leadership

States

large, complex societies w strong centralized governments and clear social inequality
- a ruler and a small group of elites hold most of the power, create and enforce laws and often control a standing army
- usually have large cities that serve as political and economic centers and rulers may build monuments to show their power and legacy

Modern States

far more complex: power can get distributed between multiple different groups within a society, never equitable so there is often extreme competition over that power and the ability to control the social and economic relations within that society
- connected through global market economies and often many different social groups within their borders

Adaptive Strategies

the systems of economic production - aka the way societies make a living

Foraging, Horiculture, Agriculture, Pastoralism and Industrialism

Anthropologist Y. Cohen suggested 5 different ways that people produce their adaptive strategies

Foraging

a way of life where people survive by hunting animals and gathering wild plants instead of farming or raising animals

• survives mainly in environments that pose major obstacles to controlled food production like artic nothern regions, deserts and arid locations and many topical rain forests

Foragers

rely on natural resources in their environment and may move more seasonally or travel long distances to find food

Horiculture

a type of subsistence farming that uses simple tools to grow crops. Farmers cultivate land for a short time and then leave it fallow so the soil can recover. This method can support permanent villages, but fields are regularly moved to new locations.

Agriculture

system of farming that uses land and labor continuously to grow crops and raise domesticated animals. It often involves tools, irrigation, and landscape changes to produce large amounts of food. This method supports large populations and complex societies and is a major way people produce food today.

Pastoralism

a way of life focused on raising and herding domesticated animals such as sheep, cattle, goats. move their herds to find pasture, either nomadically or seasonally and use animals for food, products and trade

Modes of Production

about the kinds of social relationships that exist and shape the production in a society

Market Principle, Redustribution, and Reciprocity

Ecocomist, karl Polanyi, has proposed 3 principles orientating exchanges. These principles shape the systems of exchange in both industrial and non-industrial societies and groups who exchange in all of the different adaptive strategies. They also reflect and explain the social relationships that enage in the exchange and distributions, giving us information about the social connections and relationships within a society

Market Exchange/Principle

buying, selling and valuation are based on standardized values that change based on supply and demand.

Bargaining

happens to be characteristic within Market Principle and this type of economic exchange has existed since prehistory

Redistribution

involves the centralized collection of goods from members of a group followed by the redivision of those goods among the members generally by a permanent or temporary leader

Reciprocity

when materials of equal value are exchanged between individuals or groups and through this there is this sense of future obligation which makes it possible to build continuing relationships and exchanges
there are three types of this

Generalized Reciprocity

goods are exchanged without any concern for values or timing of exchange

Balanced Reciprocity

the two parties negotitate and come to an agreement on equal value

Negative Reciprocity

there is no negotitation or purchase, but instead one group may just take what they need from another

Power

the ability to exercise one’s will over others

Authority

the formal, socially approved use of power and while every individual has power they willingly give up some power when they live w others in socio-cultural groups

Charismatic, Traditional, Legal

the three major forms of authority

Charismatic Authority

achieved based on the charisma of the individual and their influence is often based on personal appeal and are often found in Segmentary Socities like the Big Men of New Guinea

Traditional Authority

based on lomg-established customs, habits and social structure and is common to Chiefdoms, such as various Ntaive American groups today and monarchies across the world

Legal Authority

resides in an individual who can expel or exterminate disobedient individuals and groups and is often found in states