The Origin of Civilization and the State

1. The Origin of Civilization and the State SOC 370: Social Change Dr. Kimberly Martin

2. Elman Service’s Levels of Sociocultural Integration Bands Tribes Chiefdoms States Empires

3. Bands • Small (30-50 individuals) groups, • Egalitarian groups, • Usually nomadic/semi-nomadic hunter/foragers, • Social organization based on personal kinship relationships, • Use reciprocity to distribute goods and services, • Gender and age division of labor • Situational leadership

4. Tribes Small (100-500 individuals), Egalitarian groups, usually nomadic/semi-nomadic or villages Horticultural or pastoralists Social organization based on lineage membership where lineages are not ranked Distribution of goods and services through reciprocity Part time economic specialization Leaders selected by personal qualifications No ability to enforce

5. Chiefdoms Medium-sized (1000’s of individuals), Ranked or stratified groups, Usually sedentary Horticultural or pastoralists, occasionally hunters and gatherers/foragers Hierarchical social organization based on ranked lineages (kin-based) Distribution of goods and services through redistribution or market system depending on amount of surplus Part-time or full time economic specialization Centralized government with a paramount chief No centralized formal enforcement of rules or ability to suppress deviance and revolt Intermediate between tribes and states

6. States Large (100,000 to millions of individuals), Stratified groups with social classes and a ruling class, Urban settlements and large populations, Agricultural subsistence and large surpluses Social organization based on non-kin relationships Distribution of goods and services through a market system (general purpose money) Full time economic specialization/industrialization including political leaders and military Monopoly of force, both internal and external System of law (rules with centralized enforcement) Dispute resolution through formal (judicial) procedures Bureaucratic systems Formal leaders (monarchy or elected or by force)

7. Empires • A state that has conquered and rules by force one or more other societies. The force can be military, but it can be non-violent coercion as well • The Roman Empire • The Spanish Empire • The British Empire

8. Fried’s Materialism Morton Fried’s Theory of Evolution of Societies through the development of Social Stratification 1. Egalitarian Societies = Bands/Tribes (no prestige, wealth or power differences) Ranked Societies = Chiefdoms (prestige differences, not power or wealth) 3. Stratified Societies = States/Empires (wealth, power and prestige differences)

9. States States are always stratified All stratified societies are not states (there are stratified chiefdoms - e.g. Hawaii) Which came first? States or stratification? If stratification leads to states, what leads to stratification? States are necessary for civilizations Civilizations are states that have acquired: cities, writing, & monumental architecture

10. Using Archaeological and Historical Evidence • This is a diachronic approach that utilizes evidence from different periods of time over the course of the last 5000 years • Archaeological and historical evidence directly reflect change through time

11. The Rise of States (and Civilizations) • Eight major centers where states and/or civilizations arose independently world wide = Parallel Evolution Mesopotamia Indus Valley Egypt Europe Africa outside of Egypt Mesoamerica China Peru

12. General Characteristics • Cities or ceremonial centers • Centralized or City-State governments • Economic specialization • Agriculture • Stratification • Large populations (10,000 -400,000)

13. Sometimes Also • Trade networks • Irrigation agriculture • Theocracy • Monumental architecture • Writing • Centralized military • Feudal systems

14. How Fast? Much evidence seems to suggest a “punctuated equilibrium” model for the change to state societies. Many sites of early states seem to have emerged very rapidly, with monumental architecture being build over a relatively short period of time.

15. Five Theories about the Origin of the State and Civilization • Marxist Explanations • Population growth • Irrigation agriculture • Trade/economic exchange • Circumscription Theory (Carniero)

16. 1. Marxist Conflict Theory • Stratified societies are unstable because of the imbalance in resource control • The ruling class needs the state and its monopoly of force to maintain their wealth and power. • Elites compete over shares of the surplus • Exploited class resist exploitation, but are disorganized and easily overcome by force

17. 2. Populations Pressure • Populations pressure leads to scarcity of and increased demand for land • Land becomes privately owned and defended as property – differential access to low-risk crop land. • Land owners monopolize a major resource and become the ruling class • The ruling class needs the state and its monopoly of force to defend themselves from challenges from the peasantry Vs.

18. 3. Irrigation Agriculture • Irrigation agriculture requires cooperative work to build public works like terracing or other systems to transport water • Massive projects require large scale organization and administration • This administration morphs into the state, as the irrigation system allows more food to be grown, more population growth and more demand for food.

19. 4. Trade • Internal trade • External trade • State serves to protect merchants and negotiates trade advantages • State helps extract surplus from peasants (force) • Strong, stable state is necessary for trade to thrive • Trade for subsistence Vs. • Trade for exotic luxuries (elite control of exotic goods) • Competition by leaders to provide luxuries to others in the upper class

20. 5. Circumscription Theory • Where geographical obstacles existed that prevented expansion, population pressure and crowding lead to conflict, conquest, slavery and empire building • Social circumscription is also possible where neighboring groups prevent expansion • Resource concentration is an other variation on this theme – resource concentration causes people to crowd together in one place

21. Functionalist Theories • Assume that the state is a solution for problems associated with • Population pressure • Trade networks • Building monumental architecture or irrigation systems • Circumscription

22. Sanderson’s Choice? • A combination of Circumscription Theory and Marxist class conflict

23. Study Guide Bands Indus Valley Tribes China Chiefdoms Mesoamerican States Peru Empires Cities Archaeological evidence Ceremonial centers Ethnographic evidence Theocracy Synchronic Marx Diachronic Population pressure Mesopotamia Irrigations systems Egypt Trade Africa (not Egypt) Circumscription theory Functionalist theories