Political Organization and the Maintenance of Order

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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. kinship organization in tribes • clan may be the organizing unit and seat of political authority • elders of clan may form council • segmentarylineage 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

12. 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?

13. other examples of tribal organization • age-grade & age sets organization • association organization • Cree military societies and warriors’ clubs

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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)

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

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