Anthropology: The Exploration of Human Diversity 17 Political Systems Anthropology: The Exploration of Human Diversity 11th Edition Conrad Phillip Kottak

Political Systems What is “The Political”? Types and Trends Bands and Tribes Chiefdoms States Social Control: Politics, Shame, and Sorcery

What is “The Political?” Political organization is sometimes just an aspect of social organization Sociopolitical organization preferred in discussing regulation or management of interrelations among groups and their representatives Many correlations between economy and social and political organization

Types and Trends Service (1962) listed four types, or levels, of political organization Band—small kin-based group found among foragers Tribe—economies based on nonintensive food production Chiefdom—intermediate form between tribe and state State—formal government structure and socioeconomic stratification

Types and Trends Many sociopolitical trends reflect the increased regulatory demands associated with food production

Bands and Tribes Foraging Bands In foraging societies, only two significant social groups are nuclear family and band Membership in groups is fluid and can change from year to year Kin networks, both real and fictive, created and maintained through marriage, trade, and visiting

Bands and Tribes Foraging Bands Foraging bands egalitarian All differences in status are achieved Foragers lack formal law Conflict resolution embedded in kinship and social ties Prestige refers to esteem, respect, or approval for culturally valued acts or qualities

Bands and Tribes Tribal Cultivators Tribes usually have horticultural or pastoral economy and are organized by village life and/or descent-group membership Social classes and formal government are not found in tribes Small-scale warfare or intervillage raiding commonly found in tribes

Bands and Tribes Tribal Cultivators The main regulatory officials are village heads, “big men,” descent-group leaders, village councils, and leaders of pantribal associations Officials have limited authority Lead through persuasion and by example, not through coercion

Bands and Tribes Tribal Cultivators Like foragers, tribes are egalitarian Often have marked gender stratification Status in tribes based on age, gender, and personal traits and abilities Horticulturalists are egalitarian and tend to live in small villages with low population density

Bands and Tribes The Village Head The Yanomami believe position of village head is achieved and comes with very limited authority Cannot force or coerce people to do things Can only persuade, harangue, and try to influence people to do things

Bands and Tribes The Village Head Village head acts as mediator in disputes but has no authority to back his decision or impose punishments The village head must lead in generosity In the last decade, Yanomami suffered greatly from violence and disease, both of which have come from the encroaching mining and ranching industries of Brazil

Bands and Tribes The “Big Man” Like a village head, except his authority is regional and may have influence over more than one village The big man is common to the South Pacific. In order to be a tribal leader, a big man, or village head, a person must be generous.

Bands and Tribes The “Big Man” The big man is a temporary regional regulator who can mobilize supporters from several villages for produce and labor on specific occasions

Bands and Tribes The “Big Man” among the Kapauku Among the Kapauku, the big man is the only political figure beyond the household The position achieved through generosity, eloquence, bravery, physical fitness, and supernatural powers His decisions binding among his followers Important regulator of regional events

Bands and Tribes Location of the Kapauku Insert Figure 17.2

Bands and Tribes Pantribal Sodalities and Age Grades Sodalities—non-kin-based organizations that may generate cross-societal linkages Often based on common age or gender Some confined to a single village Some span several villages Called pantribal sodalities

Bands and Tribes Pantribal Sodalities and Age Grades Tend to be found in areas where two or more different cultures come into regular contact Especially where warfare is frequent Since pantribal sodalities draw their members from several villages, they can mobilize large number of men for raids

Bands and Tribes Pantribal Sodalities and Age Grades Pressure from European contact created conditions which promoted pantribal sodalities (age sets are one example) among groups of the North American Great Plains of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Bands and Tribes Pantribal Sodalities and Age Grades Age sets are sodalities that include all of the men born during a certain time span Similar to cohort of class of students Members of age set progress through a series of age grades together

Bands and Tribes Pantribal Sodalities and Age Grades Secret societies are sodalities with secret initiation ceremonies Sodalities create nonkin linkages between people based on age, gender, and ritual and create a sense of ethnic identity and belonging to the same cultural tradition

Bands and Tribes Nomadic Politics Nomads must interact with variety of groups, unlike most sedentary societies Powerful chiefs commonly found in nomadic groups that have large populations (e.g., the Basseri and the Qashqai of southern Iran)

Bands and Tribes Nomadic Politics Basseri have smaller population and their chief, khan, similar to village head or big man Position achieved Allegiances are with person, not office

Bands and Tribes Nomadic Politics The larger Qashqai have multiple levels of authority and more powerful chiefs Authority can be more coercive Allegiances are with office, not person

Chiefdoms Transitional form of sociopolitical organization between tribes and states Carneiro (1970) defines the state as “an autonomous political unit encompassing many communities within its territory, having a centralized government with the power to collect taxes, draft men for work or war, and decree and enforce laws”

Chiefdoms Political and Economic Systems in Chiefdoms Unlike band and tribal political systems, chiefdoms and states are permanent Offices outlast the individuals who occupy them

Chiefdoms Political and Economic Systems in Chiefdoms Office is permanent position of authority that exists independently of person who occupies it Must be refilled when vacated Offices ensure sociopolitical organization endures across generations

Chiefdoms Political and Economic Systems in Chiefdoms Chiefs play an important role in the production, distribution, and consumption of resources Chiefs collect foodstuffs as tribute Chiefs later redistribute these collected foodstuffs at feasts

Chiefdoms Social Status in Chiefdoms Based on seniority of descent All people in chiefdom believed to have descended from group of common ancestors Closer the chief is related to founding ancestors, the greater his prestige Continuum of prestige with the chief at one end and the lowest ranking individuals at the other The Chief must demonstrate his seniority of descent

Chiefdoms Status Systems in Chiefdoms and States Unlike tribal and band organizations, there are systemic status distinctions in chiefly and state societies

Chiefdoms Status Systems in Chiefdoms and States State and chiefdom status systems based upon differential access to wealth and resources and differential allocation of rights and duties States characterized by much clearer class divisions than chiefdoms Social stratification one of key distinguishing features of states

Chiefdoms Weber’s Dimensions of Social Stratification Wealth or economic status Political status based upon power Social status based upon prestige In chiefdoms, three dimensions tied to kinship and descent In the early states, distinctions in three dimensions appeared between endogamous groups for first time

Chiefdoms In archaic states there were contrasts in wealth, power,and prestige between groups Superordinate stratum was elite or higher class Had privileged access to wealth, power, and other valued resources Subordinate stratum was lower or underprivileged class

Chiefdoms Max Weber’s Three Dimensions of Stratification Insert Table 17.1

Chiefdoms Economic Basis of and Political Regulation in Bandu Tribes, Chiefdoms, and States Insert Table 17.2

States State Specializations Population control Judiciary Enforcement Fiscal

States Population Control States use administrative divisions to control populations Displace the role and importance kinship has in bands, tribes, and chiefdoms Foster geographic mobility and resettlement Assign differential rights to different status distinctions

States Judiciary Laws are explicit codes for behavior, issued by the state, and are distinct from the consensual mores and expectations that exist in nonstate societies The state is unique political system in that it governs family affairs The presence of laws has not reduced violence

States Enforcement Judiciary obligates existence of system of enforcement Judiciary and enforcement typically work to control internal and external conflict and preserve existing state hierarchy

States Fiscal Systems State rulers typically perform no subsistence activities Fiscal system serves to support rulers and ruling structure by collecting portion of that produced by other members of state Fiscal systems of archaic states also worked to maintain and elaborate class distinctions

Social Control: Politics, Shame, and Sorcery All groups studied by ethnographers, like the Makua, live in nation-states Individuals have to deal with levels and types of political authority and experience forms of social control

Social Control: Politics, Shame, and Sorcery Makua used three main sanctions for social control Ehaya (shame)—thief would experience extended feeling of disgrace Enretthe (sorcery attack)—believed such punitive sorcery attack would kill thief or make him extremely ill Cadeia (jail)—last phase of an extended political and legal process

Social Control: Politics, Shame, and Sorcery Shame can be powerful social sanction “Informal” processes of social control include gossip, stigma, and shame Beliefs in sorcery facilitate social control Efficacy of social control depends on how clearly people envision sanctions that antisocial act might trigger