Bands Tribes

Ethnically homogeneous Ethnically homogeneousEgalitarian Egalitarian (some gender disparity)No central authority No central authorityAcephalous Village headmanReciprocal exchange (generalized) Reciprocal exchange (balanced)Kin-based organization Kin-based organizationBilateral UnilinealSocial unit = family or band Lineages, clans, age gradesFamilies, groups of 10-30 Groups of 100s-1000sUse rights Use rightsForaging Horticulture & PastoralismNomadic Semipermanent villagesOverlapping gender roles Greater gender division of laborWarfare rare Inter-village/tribal conflictsNo larger integration among groups Pan-tribal mechanisms

Horticultural Tribal Societies

Pastoral Tribal Societies

Chiefdoms

• Permanently allied communities• Recognized leader(s)• Larger populations • More complex, formal, centralized• Hereditary ranks

– Ascribed status– Chiefly (nobles/elites) & non-chiefly (commoner) lineages– Differences in prestige, privilege, sometimes power

• Elite lineage (rank) endogamy• Redistributive economies

Chiefs

• Chiefs have more authority, & sometimes power and wealth– Regulate production & redistribution– Distribute land– Settle disputes, punish– Recruit workers and soldiers

• Ascribed status– Rank is ascribed– Power, prestige, wealth partly achieved

• E.g. Trobriands – yam cultivation, Kula Ring, feasts

• Supernatural powers• Chiefship is an ‘office’ that must be filled• Imposed by colonial powers

Women in Chiefdoms

• Women chiefs in West Africa– Ashanti of Ghana– Edo of Nigeria– Yoruba Iyalode of Nigeria

• Women’s political roles– Economic contribution – Kinship system– Iroquois vs. Cheyenne

• Colonial & missionary intervention

Big-Man (& Woman) Systems

• Between tribe & chiefdom• Kawelka, Kaoka• Horticulture• Redistribution – feasts• Following in several villages• Regulatory responsibilities• Achieved status

– Hard work & charisma• Big-women

– E.g., Vanatinai– Changes with colonization

Big Man Chief Uses influence Wields powerIndividually achieved InheritedTemporarily held Lifetime tenure

States

• Most formal, complex• Stratified (3 or more strata)• Membership based on residence & citizenship• Centralized• Coercive power• Unequal distribution of resources

– Social stratification: Castes and Classes– Elite control

• Bureaucratic– Hierarchical power and responsibilities

• Permanent institutions – Legislative, Administrative, Judicial

• Forms– City-state– Empire– Traditional– Theocratic– Nation-state

Rise of the State

• First intensive agricultural societies 5,500 years ago• Mesopotamia (Iraq), China, India, Egypt, Central & So America• Full-time political and administrative roles • Other political structures incorporated in states

General Theories of Why States Developed

• Demographic: – Population density need for central control

• Economic: – Increased food surpluses support ruling class

• Political: – Manage increased competition for land and food

Theories of Why States Developed in Certain Areas

• Voluntaristic– Benefits

• Stability, safety, rights protection, settling disputes– V. Gordon Childe

• Result of intensive agriculture & technology• Increased specialization• Required integration, protection

– Karl Witfogel• Hydraulic theory• Arid & semiarid areas needed large-scale irrigation• Small farmers gave up autonomy to get water• Problem: states came before large-scale irrigation

Theories of Why States Developed in Certain Areas

• Coercive– Robert Carneiro

• Geographical circumscription• Peruvian coastal valleys• Nowhere to expand• Warfare conquest centralization Inca empire• Nile Valley, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley

• Multi-causal theories

Powers of the State

• Authority– Exclusive right to use force– Ideology

• Powers– Define citizenship, rights, responsibilities– Monopoly on use of force– Recruit labor– Maintain standing armies & police

• Census systems• Taxation

– Labor– Percentage of crop– Cash

Powers of the State

• Manipulate information– Censorship – Restricted access– Propaganda– Control media

• Internet and democracy– Campaign contributions– Politicians revealed– Blogs– Demonstrations– Police actions– Wikileaks– “Hacktivists”

Pink – PervasiveLight Pink – SubstantialLight Yellow – Selective Yellow – Changing situationGreen – Little or No, but other forms

Internet Censorship

E. Service M. Fried C. Polanyi Subsistence Ethnographic Social

Polit Org Society Type Exchange Strategy Example Status

Bands egalitarian reciprocity foraging Ju/’hoansi, Inuit Achieved

Tribes egalitarian reciprocity horticult/pastoral Yanomamö, Nuer Achieved

(Big-man) (egalitarian) (redistribution) horticulture Kawelka, Kaoka Achieved

Chiefdoms ranked redistribution agriculture Hawaiian, Trobriands Ascribed

States stratified market exch. intens ag/indust Inca, Egypt, U.S., India Both