Politics, Power, and
Violence
Part I
Politics, Power and Violence:
Every society must have means by which
conflicts can be resolved and breakdown
of the social order prevented.
 Complex political structures known as
states first began to emerge over 5,000
years ago.

– Commonly unstable, many have disappeared
in the course of history, some temporarily and
others forever.
Politics, Power and Violence:

Societies still exist where political
organization is based on informal kinship
systems whose leaders lack real power.
– Power: the ability of individuals or groups to
impose their will upon others and make them
do things even against their own wants or
wishes.
Kinds of Political Systems:
Political organization: the way power is
distributed and embedded in society; the
means through which a society creates
and maintains social order.
 Anthropologists have simplified this
complex subject by identifying four basic
kinds of political systems:

– bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states
Kinds Of Political Systems

Uncentralized systems
– Bands
– Tribes

Centralized systems
– Chiefdoms
– States
Types Of Political Organization:
Membership
Membership
Number of people
Settlement pattern
Band
Dozens and up
Mobile
Tribe
Hundreds and up
Chiefdom
Thousands and up
State
Tens of thousands
and up
Mobile or fixed: 1
or more villages
Fixed: 1 or more
villages
Fixed: Many
villages and cities
Types Of Political Organization:
Membership
Membership
Basis of
relationships
Ethnicities and
languages
Band
Kin
1
Tribe
Chiefdom
State
Kin, descent
groups
Kin, rank and
residence
Class and
residence
1
1
1 or more
Types Of Political Organization:
Government
Membership
Decision making,
leadership
Bureaucracy
Band
“Egalitarian”
None
Tribe
Chiefdom
State
“Egalitarian” or
Big-Man
Centralized,
hereditary
None, or 1 or 2
levels
Centralized
Many levels
None
Types Of Political Organization:
Government
Membership Conflict resolution
Hierarchy of
settlement
Band
Informal
No
Tribe
Informal
No
Chiefdom
Centralized
No Paramount
village or head
town
State
Laws, judges
Capital
Types Of Political Organization:
Economy
Membership
Division of labor
Exchanges
Exchanges
Band
No
Reciprocal
Tribe
No
Reciprocal
Chiefdom
No -> Yes
State
Yes
Redistributive
(“tribute”)
Redistributive
(“taxes”)
Types Of Political Organization:
Society
Membership
Stratified
Slavery
Band
No
No
Tribe
No
No
Chiefdom
State
Yes, ranked by
kin
Yes, by class or
caste
Some small-scale
Some large-scale
Types Of Political Organization:
Society
Membership
Luxury goods
for elite
Indigenous literacy
Band
No
No
Tribe
No
No
Chiefdom
Yes
No ->Some
State
Yes
Often
Uncentralized Political Systems:
Marriage and kinship have formed their
principal means of social organization.
 Leaders do not have real power to force
compliance with the society’s customs or rules.
 Since power in the kin-ordered communities is
shared, with nobody exercising exclusive
control over collective resources or public
affairs, individuals typically enjoy much more
freedom than those who form part of larger
and more complex political systems.

Bands

Band: a relatively small and loosely
organized kin-ordered group that inhabits
a specific territory and that may split
periodically into smaller extended family
groups that are politically independent
The least complicated form of political
organization.
– Found among nomadic societies.
– Small, numbering at most a few hundred
people.
Bands
Are kin groups, composed of men and/or
women who are related (or are assumed
to be) with their spouses and unmarried
children.
 The band is probably the oldest form of
political organization.

Bands
No need for formal political systems.
 Conflicts that arise among bands are
usually settled informally through gossip,
ridicule, direct negotiation, or mediation.
 Individuals become leaders by virtue of
their abilities to serve in that capacity only
as long as they retain the confidence of
the community.

Ju/’hoansi
Public scolding or open expression of
irritation may escalate into serious anger
and lead to splits that jeopardize
everyone’s security.
 Through gossip people accomplish several
objectives while avoiding the potential
disruption of open confrontation.
 Another technique in small-scale societies
for resolving disputes, or even avoiding
them in the first place, is mobility.

Tribes

Tribe: in anthropology, refers to a range of kinordered groups that are politically integrated by
some unifying factor and whose members
share a common ancestry, identity, culture,
language and territory.
– This term is problematic because it has many
meanings.
Tribes

In these larger political entities, people
sacrifice a degree of household autonomy
in return for greater security against such
perils as enemy attacks or starvation.
– Typically a tribe has an economy based on
some form of crop cultivation or herding.
– While band population densities are usually
less than one person per square mile, tribal
population densities generally exceed that and
may be as high as 250 per square mile.
Tribes
Each tribe consists of one of more selfsupporting and self-governing local
communities that may then form alliances
with others for various purposes.
 In many tribal societies the organizing unit
and seat of political authority is the clan,
comprised of people who consider
themselves descended from a common
ancestry.

Navajo Indians


A local leader was a
man respected for his
age, integrity, and
wisdom.
Shown here is a
meeting of the Navajo
Tribal Council, a
nontraditional
governing body
created in response to
requirements set by
the U.S. government
in order for the
Navajo to exercise
national sovereignty.
The Big Man

This Big Man from New
Guinea is wearing his official
regalia.
– His authority is personal; he
does not come to office in any
formal sense, nor is he elected.
– His status is the result of acts
that raise him above most other
tribe members and attract to
him a number of loyal followers.
Political Integration Beyond Kin
Group:
Age sets, age grades, and common-interest
groups are among the mechanisms used by
tribal societies as means of political
integration.
 Cutting across territorial and kin groupings,
these organizations link members from
different lineages and clans.
 Another system of political integration
found among tribes in many parts of the
world is the common-interest association.

Question

Bands and tribes are both
A. centralized.
B. associated with industrialism.
C. dependent on age groups for political
organization.
D. uncentralized and egalitarian.
E. hierarchical in social organization.
Answer: D

Bands and tribes are both uncentralized
and egalitarian.
Question

In the band, disputes are settled
informally through ___________
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
gossip.
ridicule.
direct negotiation.
mediation.
all of these choices
Answer: E

In the band, disputes are settled
informally through gossip, ridicule,
direct negotiation and mediation.
Question

The form of social organization typical of
hunter-gatherers is the _________, whereas
horticulture and pastoralism are usually
associated with the form of social organization
called the _________.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
tribe/chiefdom
tribe/state
tribe/band
band/chiefdom
band/tribe
Answer: E

The form of social organization typical of
hunter-gatherers is the band, whereas
horticulture and pastoralism are usually
associated with the form of social
organization called the tribe.