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
political organization: an early pre-occupation of anthropologists
►British India and Africa: how are people rule without a state
►Victorian Europe and the appearance of the modern nation-state
►idea of acephalous societies
without heads
early evolutionary scheme matched with subsistence strategies
►band, tribe, chiefdom, state (Elman Service)
foragers, horticulturalists, agriculturalists, industrialists
►still see different types of political organization as related to
subsistence strategy
population density and heterogeneity
degree of hierarchy and social stratification
presence of bounded territory
degree of formalization of rule
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 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 hunting prowess
►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 Nuer 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 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
Maasai 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
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
original states appeared 5000 years ago
►primary states are agricultural
►theories about their formation
►military needs, irrigation needs, environmental conditions
why the state? from band to state
►more wealth
►more people
►more sedentism
►more inequality and ranking
►less reliance on kinship
►more internal and external conflict
►increased power and responsibility to leaders
►increased burden to citizens to support political organization
►increased use of formal, legal structures for adjudication
The Nation (-State)
►modern nation-state a more recent phenomenon
most have appeared since the end of WWII
►communities of people who see themselves as “one people” on the basis of common
ancestry, history, society, institutions, ideology, language, territory, and (often) religion
►anthropology questions this reality while recognizing the power of the idea
►differences are suppressed in modern nation-states
The State, The Nation, and Ethnicity
►181 states but 5000 nations?
►idea that nation and state coincide is rare
►The appearance of ethnicity and the rise of the nation-state
►(Nash) nation-state responsible for the rise and definition of social entities called ethnic
groups - last 500 years
grew out of the wreck of empires, breakups of civilizations - disruptions of mechanic
societies
within borders of nation-state - social and cultural diversity
Race and Ethnicity
►races are ethnic groups assumed to have a biological basis, but actually race is socially
constructed, there are social races
There are no biological human races
►up until 14th cent. in Europe cultural & social evolution based on the idea of progress
from kin-based societies to civil society through governance & law
►after 16th cent. in Europe dispositions of blood distinguished the character of
difference (racist notions of social & cultural evolution)
ETHNICITY
►forged in the process of historical time
►subject to shifts in meaning
►Subject shifts in referents or markers of ethnic identity
►Subject to political manipulations
►ethnic identity is not a function of primordial ties, always the genesis of specific
historical forces that are simultaneously structural & cultural
Political Organization and Ethnicity
►ethnicity is founded upon structural inequities among dissimilar groups into a single
political entity
►based on cultural differences & similarities perceived as shared
►identification with & feeling a part of an ethnic group & exclusion from certain other
groups because of this affiliation (endogamy & exogamy)
building blocks of ethnicity
►associated with distinctions between language, religion, historical experience,
geographic isolation, kinship, notions of race (phenotype)
►markers of ethnic identity may include collective name, belief in common descent,
sense of solidarity, association with a specific territory, clothing, house types, personal
adornment, food, technology, economic activities, general lifestyle
Ethnicity and Boundaries
►where there is a group there is some sort of boundary
►where there are boundaries there are mechanisms for maintaining boundaries
cultural markers of difference
cultural markers of difference must be visible to members and non-members
ethnogenesis
►"fluidity" of ethnic identity - ethnic groups vanish, people move between ethnic
groups, new ethnic groups come into existence
►ethnogenesis - emergence of new ethnic group; part of existing group splits & forms
new ethnic group, members of two or more groups fuse
PLURAL SOCIETIES
►society in which ethnic distinctions persist in spite of generations of interethnic contact
►economic niche & plural society
►no assimilation
►peaceful (??) coexistence of different ethnicities
►many contemporary plural societies the result of colonialism
NATION & NATIONALITY
►nation was once a term that referred to tribe, indigenous people, or ethnic group collectivity sharing single language, religion, history, territory, ancestry, kinship (Herder
& volk)
►nation comes to mean the state = a country, but a sociopolitical form, the modern state
composed of diverse ethnic groups
Nation as “Imagined Community”
►"it is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most
of their fellow members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives
the image of their communion" (Anderson p.15)
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 ( Diamond and Quinby, 1988, p. 185)
►the 'discursive field‘ -- the relationship between language, social institutions,
subjectivity and power
►'disciplinary power'
internalized controls
►cultural control: through meaning
sinners are going to hell
►social control: through relations and coercion
gossip, excommunication
►stopping at red lights at midnight
externalized controls
►sanctions: externalized social controls designed to encourage conformity to social
norms
law is formal negative sanctions
controlling under-age student drinking
►informal positive sanction to join versus
►formal negative sanction not to
witchcraft
►Balinese witchcraft accusations
►ceremonies by families and villages
dispute resolution
►Inuit song duels
►adjudication by courts
►ability to employ sanctions vary from level to level
municipal, provincial and federal law
household authority to punish children?
►anthropologists and conflict resolution and mediation
►polygraph and Kpelle knife
Anthropology of warfare
►The materialist/ecological school
causes of pre-state warfare are to be found largely in the material foundations of the
cultural system
►The biocultural school
causes of warfare are ultimately to be found in a combination of ecological and
biological elements
►The historical school
war is to be found in the specific historical context of the events in question and the
personal motivations of the people involved in those events
Explanations of war
►The inclusive fitness argument -- The possibility of explaining war in terms of
behaviour selected to maximize inclusive fitness
if war increases somatic and, ultimately, reproductive success in individuals who fight,
why is war not continuous and ubiquitous?
►The cultural selection argument --
that pre-state war is carried out for material resources such as land, water, food, and
trade goods
►The state and war