Political Anthropology The Organization of Power

Power and Authority Power the ability to exercise one’s will over others. Authority the socially approved use of power.

Political Anthropology How are power and social control organized? distributed? manifested? How are group decisions made? How is social order enforced? How are conflicts dealt with? Because of the embeddedness it is better to talk of sociopolitical

Mechanisms of Control Internal (ideological) External (behavioral) culturally instilled values expectation of supernatural harm or reward External (behavioral) informal ridicule and ostracism, gossip praise formal laws and rules institutionalized threat of force

Law and Conflict Resolution Formal and informal sanctions Conflict mediators Often older men Nuer leopard skin chief Ordeals Oaths – supernatural source Oracles – people or things that have prophetic abilities Delphic Oracle, Greece

Degrees of Organizational Complexity Uncentralized Band Tribe Centralized Chiefdom State In general, as the economy becomes more productive, population size increases leading to greater regulatory problems, which give rise to more complex social relations and linkages (greater social and political complexity). 1962, Elman Service

Bands the political organization of foraging groups Rarely more than 30-40 people kin-based Flexible extended family units No formal political organization No socioeconomic stratification the political order (polity) is not a distinct institution, but is embedded in the overall social order.

Bands How are group decisions made? How is social order enforced? adult consensus informal leaders egalitarian How is social order enforced? ridicule and ostracism How are conflicts dealt with? negotiation/mediation mobility

Tribes Multiple autonomous small communities that share common identity Usually pastoralists or Horticulturalists Several hundred to thousands of people No formal political organization Little socioeconomic stratification

Tribes How are group decisions made? How are social norms enforced? Consensus among descent groups How are social norms enforced? ridicule and ostracism How are conflicts dealt with? negotiation/mediation semi-official mediation

Tribes The Village Head achieved position comes with very limited authority. He cannot force or coerce people to do things. He can only persuade, harangue, and try to influence people to do things. acts as a mediator in disputes, but has no authority to back his decision or impose punishments. The village head must lead in generosity. He must be more generous, which means he must cultivate more land. He hosts feasts for other villages. modern-day Iroquois, New York

Tribes –Big Man Big Man -like a village head, except that his authority is regional in that he may have influence over more than one village wisdom wealth generosity charisma. unofficial prestige status The benefit is greater influence and community standing. Nuer, Sudan

Pantribal Sodalities and Age Grades Sodalities are non-kin-based organizations that may generate cross-societal linkages. often based on common age or gender. Some sodalities are confined to a single village. Some sodalities span several villages; these are called pantribal sodalities. they can mobilize a large number of men for raids.

Age Sets sodalities that include all of the men or women born during a certain time Similar to a cohort of class of students Members of an age set progress through a series of age grades together (e.g., initiated youth, warrior, adult, elder, (freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate). 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

Chiefdoms Agriculturalists or pastoralists Multiple communities that share common identity and tribute system Thousands to many thousands of people Centralized political organization based on hierarchical lineage system a political unit of permanently allied tribes and villages under one recognized leader with authority Significant socioeconomic stratification based on lineage Old Chief of the Arawa Tribe, Rotorua, New Zealand.

Chiefdoms How are group decisions made? How is social order enforced? Chief and advisors How is social order enforced? ridicule and ostracism official order use of force How are conflicts dealt with? negotiation/mediation centralized arbitration

Chiefdoms Small hierarchical bureaucracy Tribute - tax paid to chief to be redistributed according to “community” needs Chiefs – Leaders own, manage, and control basic factors of the economy and have special access to crops labor cash goods. Grand chief Matthew Coon Come

Chiefdoms Formalized leadership functions Unrelated to personal qualities Rules of succession (primogeniture) Office is permanent - it outlasts the individuals who occupy them Loyalty, status, coercion – but not too much Zulu Chief

States Agriculturalists Multiple cities that share tax and administrative infrastructure system Tens of thousands to billions of people Centralized political organization possessing coercive power Social stratification is one of the key distinguishing features of states. Calcutta

States How are group decisions made? How is social order enforced? rulers decide “on behalf of” populous How is social order enforced? official enforcement threat or use of sanctions How are conflicts dealt with? negotiation/mediation centralized arbitration Angkor

States Status Codification of laws Monopoly on use of force not necessarily kin-based class-based Codification of laws More formalized in industrial societies Courts – adjudicate and mediate Officials Monopoly on use of force Police force Hammurabi’s Code (1750 BC)