28 October and 30 October 2003
Ch. 11 Politics, conflict and social order
Politics
 What did we do last time?
 Politics
 some Marxist terminology (superstructure/infrastructure)
Halloween Special
 Halloween is an example of rites of intensification which occur on a cyclical
basis and are aimed at reinforcing the solidarity of the group.
 Halloween is an example of ritual inversions (reversal).
Ritual of reversal
 A symbolic observance when ordinary relationships are reversed.
 It invert social roles and order (Carnival, Halloween, Mardi Gras).
 Does not challenge or attack the social order
 Affirms ordinary reality through a glimpse into extraordinary possibilities.
Halloween marks
 “the death” of the summer
 A period when dead spirits can walk among living.
Halloween
 suspends “laws” that normally govern relationship between the living and the
dead, allowing spirits considered dangerous and normally held in check to
enjoy a brief period of time among the living.
Politics, Conflict and Social Order, Miller Ch. 11
 What is the political organization of a society?
 Political organization comprises whatever rules and roles are used to manage
problems, whether or not there is any formal kind of government organization.
What politics is about?
 Power, authority, influence, force, dominance, ideology.
 http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/index.html
What is superstructure?
 Ideology
 +
Sociopolitical arrangements
Ideology?
 Ideology is often used to express false consciousness (Engels) or a set of
misapprehensions regarding the reality.
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 It can refer to a system of ideas, or cultural belief system without the
implication that these ideas are false.
Superstructure
 Ideology includes religion, cultural expressions, art and literature

 Sociopolitical arrangements: laws and mores and social institutions which
support them
 Mores are informal and implicit formulations of social values

Laws are explicitly stated, formal system of rules
Infrastructure/base
 Economic base
 Means of production.
 Economic base
 Crude marxist formla
 Base(infrastructure determines) superstructure
Economic determinism?
 Crude economic determination does not work for anthropologists.
 It can be kinship but or religious system but not economic system which is
organizational axes of society.
 Kinship systems or religious beliefs can serve to organize the relations of
production and distribution in society.
The KEY Questions
 What do political and legal anthropology cover?
 What are the major cross-cultural forms of political organization
and social order?
 What are cross-cultural patterns of social conflict?
Political Anthropology
Politics
 The power to bring about results through authority or influence
– through possession of forceful means
 A human universal?
– No, politics only emerged with increase in private property
– Yes, there is no boundary between how kinship and political organizations
organize power
Types of Political Organizations
Bands
 Foraging groups
 Comprises a small group of households
 Between 20 and a few hundred people
 Membership is flexible
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 Leader is “first among equals”
 Leader has no power, only authority and influence
Tribes
 Horticulture and pastoralism
 Comprises several bands, each with similar lifestyle, language and territory
 Leadership combines both achieved and ascribed statuses
 Leader resolves conflict
 Leader relies on authority and influence
Chiefdoms
 Allied tribes and villages under one leader
 More centralized and complex
 Heritable systems of rank
 Social stratification
 Chiefship is an “office”
 Achievement is a measure of success
States
 Define citizenship and rights
 Maintain law and order
 Maintain standing armies
 Keep track of their citizens
 Have the power to tax
 Power to manipulate information
 Hierarchical and patriarchal
Social Control
 Exists to ensure a certain degree of social conformity
 Some people may resist conformity
Social Control in Small-scale Societies
 In foraging societies, formal laws are rare
 Punishment is often through naming and shaming
 Punishment is legitimized through belief in supernatural forces
 Capital punishment is rare
Social Control in States
 Increased specialization of tasks relating to law and order
 Process is more formal and based on law
 Use of capital punishment
Social Inequality and the Law
Social Conflict
 Feuding
 Ethnic conflict
 Revolution
 Warfare
 Nonviolent conflict
Feuding
 The most universal form of intergroup aggression
 Based on revenge
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 E.g. headhunting in the Ilongot people
 Response to an insult or offense
Ethnic Conflict
Revolution
 Within-state conflicts to change institutions or structure of society
 Considered illegal by the state
 Varies in terms of degree of popular participation, roles of radicals and
moderates, and leadership
 May be urban or rural-based
Warfare
 Organized, purposeful group action directed against another group
 Lethal force is legal if conducted according to the rules of battle
 Cultural variation in frequency and seriousness
 E.g. warfare in Afghanistan
Nonviolent Conflict
 Gandhi
– Non-violent resistance
– Public fasting
– Strikes
– Celibacy
 Weapons of the weak
– Foot dragging, desertion, false compliance, humour
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