1. Political Organization and the Maintenance of Order

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. political organization: an early pre-occupation of anthropologists
British India and Africa: how are people ruled without a state
Victorian Europe and the appearance of the modern nation-state
idea of acephalous societies
without heads

6. 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

7. Band, Tribe, Chiefdom, State

8. the band
small group of politically independent, though 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. The Lineage: Descent Groups as Political Organization
Lineal Kin - ancestors or descendants
Collateral Kin - sibling branches

15. Patrilineage: Male Ego

16. Patrilineage: Female Ego

17. Matrilineal and Patrilineal Kin

18. Tribe: segmentary lineage system

19. Tribes and Lineages maximal lineages (tribes)
major lineages (families)
minor lineages (fathers' houses)
minimal lineages (extended patrilocal households)

20. “Headless” (uncentralized) Political organization

21. Segmentray lineage system

22. Kinship Centered Political Organization

23. 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?

24. other examples of tribal organization
age-grade organization
association organization
Cree military societies and warriors’ clubs

25. 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

26. “KENYA” uit de serie “BEST OF EAST AFRICA” ( AVP©2003)

27. Masai 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. Nana Osei Tutu II The King of Ashanti Photo credit: G. F
Nana Osei Tutu II The King of Ashanti Photo credit: G. F. Kojo Arthur Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Copyright© PT Sangga Sarana Persada, Designed by Sangga Web Team

32. © 2000–2005 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. Bands and Tribes: 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

37. Chiefdom & State: 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)

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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

41. The state: associated with --
differentiation in population appears – social stratification
appearance of ethnicity
permanent, heritable inequality
slaves, castes and classes
social conflict increases

42. original states appeared 5000 years ago
primary states are agricultural
theories about their formation
military needs, irrigation needs, environmental conditions

43. 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

44. Band, Tribe, Chiefdom, State
sequence can be replaced with contrast between uncentralized and centralized political systems
Replace evolutionary perspective with:
ethnographic present
historical perspective

45. 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

46. 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

47. 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)

48. imagined community A community that “imagines” itself
No possibility of face-to-face communication
Moments of simultaneity
Monuments and memorials
Anthropology questions this reality while recognizing the power of the idea
Differences are marked and suppressed in modern nation-states
A form of amnesia?

49. The Nation: Key Points
based upon sentiments of prestige which extend deep into the masses of political structures (located in the field of politics)
Those groups who hold the power to steer common conduct within a polity will most strongly instill themselves with this ideal fervor of power prestige
Those who think of themselves as being specific partners of a specific culture diffused among members of the polity

50. 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

51. 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

52. Assimilation & Nation Building
increase in shared characteristics among social groups and an increasing social homogeneity are a key to nation building
erasure of differences (in ethnicity, cognitive orientations, patterns of social interactions, etc.) for the creation of a cohesive, productive, just and affluent society
various communication media assume an important role in providing information that facilitates key transformations in individuals and communities

53. Pluri-Ethnic States
Pluralist model treats groups as permanent and enduring
Group rights
Cosmopolitan model that accepts shifting boundaries, multiple affiliations, hybrid identities
Individual rights
Accommodation of immigrant ethnicity
Minority nationalism – nations within (indigenous peoples and Québécois)
Stateless nations, ethnic nationalism vs. indigenous groups
Nations within – groups that formed complete and functioning societies on their historic homeland before being incorporated into a larger state
Typically been involuntary – colonization, conquest, etc.

54. Ethnic Conflict
Assimilation
Apartheid
Diaspora
Ethnocide
Genocide

55. indigeneity
Nations within – groups that formed complete and functioning societies on their historic homeland before being incorporated into a larger state
Typically been involuntary – colonization, conquest, etc.
Indigenous groups around the world
Drive for recognition of rights
Sovereignty and self-governance

56. Indigenous peoples and states
There is a common trend to codify and strengthen the rights of national minorities – two parallel developments
One set of conventions and declarations concerning indigenous peoples and another set concerning stateless nations