Political Organization and the
Maintenance of Order
anthropology’s interest in power and
maintenance of order
► political
organization refers to the way
power is distributed and embedded in
societies
► who has power
► how does power differ from authority
► how is power organized and administered
distinction between power and
authority
► power:
ability to bring about results
 power may be informal and based on force
 coercive power versus persuasive power
 Symbolic power based on positive expectations
of those who accede to it
► authority
is the socially recognized right to
exert power
► legitimacy - the socially recognized right to
hold, use, and allocate power
Eric Wolf: 4 Modalities of Power
► Potency,
capability, charisma (individual)
► Ability of person to impose its will in social action
upon another
► Tactical or organizational power -- The
instrumentalities through which individuals or
groups direct or circumscribe the actions of others
► Structural power – power that organizes and
orchestrates the settings themselves & that
specifies the direction & distribution of energy
flows
Power: Foucault’s panopticon
► The
shaping of perception
► Discursive practices in the absence of active
practitioners
► The gaze in the absence of the perceiving
subject
► a world in which the gaze, free of all
obstacle, is no longer subjected to the
immediate law of truth: the gaze is not
faithful to truth, nor subject to it, without
asserting, at the same time, a supreme
mastery
Foucault on Discourse (and power)
►a
form of power that circulates in the social
field and can attach to strategies of
domination as well as those of resistance
► the 'discursive field‘ -- the relationship
between language, social institutions,
subjectivity and power
► 'disciplinary power'
Band, Tribe, Chiefdom, State
► sequence
can be replaced with contrast
between uncentralized and centralized
political systems
► Replace evolutionary perspective with:
 ethnographic present
 historical perspective
Uncentralized political systems
► include:
bands and tribes
► associated with:
subsistence level economies such as foraging
small, homogeneous populations
little social stratification
relatively autonomous groups
often relatively mobile without strict territorial
boundaries
 no formal leader or organization beyond kinship





the band
► small
group of politically independent, through
related, households
► all social relationships based on kinship
► least complex form of political organization
 perhaps the oldest form as well
► associated
with foraging forms of subsistence
► decisions made through consensus
 disgruntled leave
► no
fixed leadership, only informal recognition of
prowess
 typically male, but females have power as well
 most successful hunter and most senior woman
The Tribe
► tribal
system consists of separate bands or
villages
► integrated through lineages, clans, age
grades, or other associations cross-cutting
kinship and territory
 less autonomy for greater security
► associated
with farming or herding
subsistence strategies
 greater food production
► greater
population density
The tribe
► consists
of one or more autonomous
communities which may then form alliances
► may range across a broad territory
► social stratification related to kinship and
cross-cutting associations
► needs for alliance




defense or raiding
pooling of resources
capitalize on a windfall
often return to autonomous communities
The tribe
► informal
leadership
► no centralized leadership
► typically someone respected for wisdom or
prowess – charisma & “big men”
► group decisions by consensus
 leaders may influence through oratory
 decisions enforced through
►withdrawal
of cooperation
►gossip
►criticism
►beliefs
that anti-social actions cause disease
The tribe
► leaders
of localized descent groups or a territorial
group
► authority is personal
 not elected, no formal office
 status result of personal behavior
► status
often achieved through giving away
 many wives
 extended kin networks
► Big
Women in Vanatinai (Maria Lepowsky)
 give more mortuary feasts
 may gain power as sorcerers, healers, gardeners
kinship organization in tribes
► clan
may be the organizing unit and seat of
political authority
 elders of clan may form council
► segmentary
lineage system – The Ariaal of East
Africa
► patrilineal clans
 maximal lineage, major, minor, minimal lingeage
 smallest group defined by one great grandfather
 all segments equal and no leadership above minimal or
primary segments
► form
alliances to face threats
Us and Them
► Bedouin
proverb:
 I against my brother; I and my brother against
our cousin; I, my brother and our cousin
against the neighbors; all of us against the
foreigners
► based
on complementary or balanced
opposition
► a model for ethnicity?
other examples of tribal organization
► age-grade
& age sets organization
► association organization
 Cree military societies and warriors’ clubs
AGE AS A FORM OF SOCIAL
DIVISION
► AGE-SETS, AGE GRADES, AGE MATES
► differentiation of social role based on age,
commonly found in small-scale societies of North
America and tribal groups of East Africa
► Age sets are a type of sodality
► Age grades may be marked by changes in
biological state, such as puberty
► Or by socially recognized status changes such as
marriage and the birth of a child
► Persons of junior grade may defer to those of
more senior grade who in turn teach, test, or lead
their juniors
Ariaal Age Sets (E. Africa
pastoralists)
► rigid
system of age-sets
► apply primarily to men; women automatically become
members of the age-set of their husbands
► groups of the same age (give or take five years or so)
are initiated into adult life during the same period
► The age-set is a permanent grouping
 lasts throughout the life of its members
►a
hierarchy of grades
 junior warriors, senior warriors
 junior elders (sometimes classed as senior warriors), and
senior elders
► the
ones who make decisions affecting the whole tribe
tribal organization
► term
used differently than in popular usage
► not a catch-all for anyone not living in a
state or those considered to be inferior
 tribalism = chaotic political situation
► also
not equivalent to usage by some
aboriginal groups today
Centralized political systems
► include:
chiefdoms and states
► associated with:
 intensive agricultural or industrialization
► technology
becomes more complicated
► labour specialization increases






large, diverse population
less mobility
opportunity for control of resources appears
appearance of coercive force
male leaders more frequent
political authority is concentrated in a single individual
(chiefdoms) or a body of individuals (the state)
chiefdom
►a
regional polity in which one or more local
groups are organized under a single ruling
individual – the chief – who is at the head
of a ranked hierarchy of people
The Chief
► Divine
king – macrocosm and microcosm
► status determined by closeness to chief
► office of chief often hereditary
 passing to son or to sister’s son
►also
based on talents
►often conceived as a semi-sacred position
► may
amass personal wealth to add to power
chiefdom
►a
true authority figure with a formal office
► can distribute resources




associated with redistributive economies
chief controls surpluses and labour
may collect taxes or tribute
may recruit labour for community projects
► irrigation,
a temple, a palace
 can conscript for military
► recognized
hierarchy linked to chief
► tend to be unstable
► may form confederacies
 Iroquois League of Five Nation, Algonquin Confederacy
chiefdom
► Rank
society
► do not have unequal access to economic resources
or to power, but they do contain social groups
having unequal access to prestige
► unequal access to prestige often reflected in
position of chief to which only some members of a
specified group in the society can succeed
► Ascribed status
Band & tribe vs. chiefdom
► in
band and tribal societies competitive
displays & conspicuous consumption by
individuals disappears & anyone foolish
enough to boast how great he is gets
accused of witchcraft & is stoned to death
► reciprocity predominates, not redistribution
the state
► the
most formal of political organizations
and is one of the hallmarks of civilization
► political power is centralized in a
government which may LEGITIMATELY use
force to regulate the affairs of its citizens
► Weber’s monopoly on the legitimate use of
force
The state: associated with -► increased
food production (agriculture and
industry)
► irrigation and transformation of landscape
► increased population
► fixed territory
► developed market system
► appearance of cities developed urban sector
The state: associated with -► appearance
of bureaucracy
► military
► usually
an official religion
► delegation of authority to maintain order
 within and without its borders
► right
to control information
► authority is formal and impersonal
 Holding office and the person
The state: associated with -► differentiation
in population appears – social
stratification
► appearance of ethnicity
► permanent, heritable inequality
 slaves, castes and classes
► social
conflict increases