Political Anthropology_ A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Learning Objectives

• All cultures exercise social control over their members to manage interpersonal conflicts.

• Disputes must be contained across societies, regardless of complexity.

• Political anthropology studies the means of social control.

Basic Concepts in Political Anthropology

• Political Anthropology: A cross-cultural approach to understanding the organization of societies.

  • Identify four levels of socio-cultural integration: band, tribe, chiefdom, state.

  • Compare leadership systems in egalitarian vs. non-egalitarian societies.

  • Analyze how tribes and chiefdoms encourage social integration.

  • Evaluate benefits and issues related to state-level organizations.

Political Forces

• Power vs. Authority:

  • Power: Ability to induce behavior through coercion (e.g., gulags, Supermax prisons).

  • Authority: Ability to persuade and encourage compliance (e.g., forager societies).

• Legitimacy: The perceived right to lead, rooted in various historical principles, including hereditary succession or divine right.

  • Examples:

    • Inca: Rule justified by connections to the Sun God.

    • Aztec: Derived authority from deities.

    • Democratic: Rests on the consent of the governed.

• Reverse Dominance:

  • Concept where societies reject individual power using ridicule or disapproval.

  • Example: The !Kung ridiculing an individual rather than appreciating gifts.

Levels of Socio-Cultural Integration

• Band: Small, family-based units lacking formal leadership.

  • Leadership changes daily

• Tribe: More complex than bands, with defined groups and temporary leadership roles.

  • Head person is merit-based

• Chiefdom: Centralized power with a hereditary chief.

  • chief has “mana” = personal power

• State: Most complex, governed by a central authority and formal laws.

  • Egalitarian: No significant status differences (band and tribe).

  • Ranked: Substantial differences in social status (chiefdom).

  • Stratified: Significant inequalities, often in wealth and power (state).

Role of Law and Norms

• Norms of Reinforcement:

  • Positive (rewards) and negative (punishments) consequences for compliance with societal directives.

  • Resolution in bands uses informal conflict resolution methods without formal courts.

• Conflicts: Often arise from interpersonal disputes; resolved through negotiation or mediation rather than codified law.

  • Example : Nuer Leopard Skin Chief acting as mediator.

Warfare and Conflict in Societies

• Conflict can arise in bands, tribes, or chiefdoms, often tied to interpersonal disputes, resource theft, or women's abduction.

Characteristics of Ranked Societies and Chiefdoms

• Ranked societies differ from egalitarian societies by permitting significant inherited statuses. Chiefdoms have permanent leadership and defined rules of succession, visible in events like potlatch ceremonies.

  • Leadership validation occurs through public recognition and displays of generosity.

Integration Mechanisms

• Kin-Based Integration: Especially prevalent in chiefdoms.

  • Marriage alliances, gift exchanges, secret societies, and kinship systems are used to strengthen social ties and maintain order.

• Influence of Secret Societies: They often bridge political and kinship realms, reinforcing social structures and political authority.

Conclusion

• The chapter connects forms of government ranging from forager bands to complex stratified states, exploring the underlying causes of socio-economic inequalities and the role of various mechanisms of social control.

GLOSSARY

Affinal: family relationships created through marriage.
Age grades: groups of men who are close to one another in age and share similar duties or responsibilities.
Age sets: named categories to which men of a certain age are assigned at birth.
Band: the smallest unit of political organization, consisting of only a few families and no formal leadership positions.
Big man: a form of temporary or situational leadership; influence results from acquiring followers.
Bilateral cross-cousin marriage: a man marries a woman who is both his mother’s brother’s daughter and his father’s sister’s daughter.
Bilateral descent: kinship (family) systems that recognize both the mother’s and the father’s “sides” of the family.
Caste system: the division of society into hierarchical levels; one’s position is determined by birth and remains fixed for life.
Chiefdom: large political units in which the chief, who usually is determined by heredity, holds a formal position of power.
Circumscription: the enclosure of an area by a geographic feature such as mountain ranges or desert or by the boundaries of a state.
Codified law: formal legal systems in which damages, crimes, remedies, and punishments are specified.
Egalitarian: societies in which there is no great difference in status or power between individuals and there are as many valued status positions in the societies as there are persons able to fill them.
Feuds: disputes of long duration characterized by a state of recurring hostilities between families, lineages, or other kin groups.
Ideologies: ideas designed to reinforce the right of powerholders to rule.
Legitimacy: the perception that an individual has a valid right to leadership.
Lineage: individuals who can trace or demonstrate their descent through a line of males or females back to a founding ancestor.
Matrilateral cross-cousin marriage: a man marries a woman who is his mother’s brother’s daughter.
Matrilineal: kinship (family) systems that recognize only relatives through a line of female ancestors.
Nation: an ethnic population.
Negative reinforcements: punishments for noncompliance through fines, imprisonment, and death sentences.
Oaths: the practice of calling on a deity to bear witness to the truth of what one says.
Ordeal: a test used to determine guilt or innocence by submitting the accused to dangerous, painful, or risky tests believed to be controlled by supernatural forces.
Patrilineal: kinship (family) systems that recognize only relatives through a line of male ancestors.
Peasants: residents of a state who earn a living through farming.
Poro and sande: secret societies for men and women, respectively, found in the Mande-speaking peoples of West Africa, particularly in Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, and Guinea.
Positive reinforcements: rewards for compliance; examples include medals, financial incentives, and other forms of public recognition.
Proletarianization: a process through which farmers are removed from the land and forced to take wage labor employment.
Raids: short-term uses of physical force organized and planned to achieve a limited objective.
Ranked: societies in which there are substantial differences in the wealth and social status of individuals; there are a limited number of positions of power or status, and only a few can occupy them.
Restricted exchange: a marriage system in which only two extended families can engage in this exchange.
Reverse dominance: societies in which people reject attempts by any individual to exercise power.
Segmentary lineage: a hierarchy of lineages that contains both close and relatively distant family members.
Social classes: the division of society into groups based on wealth and status.
Sodality: a system used to encourage solidarity or feelings of connectedness between people who are not related by family ties.
State: the most complex form of political organization characterized by a central government that has a monopoly over legitimate uses of physical force, a sizeable bureaucracy, a system of formal laws, and a standing military force.
Stratified: societies in which there are large differences in the wealth, status, and power of individuals based on unequal access to resources and positions of power.
Sumptuary rules: norms that permit persons of higher rank to enjoy greater social status by wearing distinctive clothing, jewelry, and/or decorations denied those of lower rank.
Tribe: political units organized around family ties that have fluid or shifting systems of temporary leadership.
Unilineal descent: kinship (family) systems that recognize only one sex-based “side” of the family.