© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

These PowerPoint slides have been designed for use by students and instructors using the Anthropology: The Exploration of Human Diversity textbook by Conrad Kottak. These files contain short outlines of the content of the chapters, as well as selected photographs, maps, and tables. Students may find these outlines useful as a study guide or a tool for review. Instructors may find these files useful as a basis for building their own lecture slides or as handouts. Both audiences will notice that many of the slides contain more text than one would use in a typical oral presentation, but it was felt that it would be better to err on the side of a more complete outline in order to accomplish the goals above. Both audiences should feel free to edit, delete, rearrange, and rework these files to build the best personalized outline, review, lecture, or handout for their needs.

Using These SlidesUsing These SlidesUsing These SlidesUsing These Slides

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Student CD-ROM—this fully interactive student CD-ROM is packaged free of charge with every new textbook and features the following uniquetools:How To Ace This Course:•Animated book walk-through•Expert advice on how to succeed in the course (provided on video by the University of Michigan)•Learning styles assessment program•Study skills primer•Internet primer•Guide to electronic research

Chapter-by-Chapter Electronic Study Guide:•Video clip from a University of Michigan lecture on the text chapter•Interactive map exercise•Chapter objectives and outline•Key terms with an audio pronunciation guide•Self-quizzes (multiple choice, true/false, and short-answer questions with feedback indicating why your answer is correct or incorrect)•Critical thinking essay questions•Internet exercises•Vocabulary flashcards•Chapter-related web links

Cool Stuff:•Interactive globe•Study break links

Contents of Student CD-ROMContents of Student CD-ROMContents of Student CD-ROMContents of Student CD-ROM

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Student’s Online Learning Center—this free web-based student supplement features many of the same tools as the Student CD-ROM (so students can access these materials either online or on CD, whichever is convenient), but also includes:

•An entirely new self-quiz for each chapter (with feedback, so students can take two pre-tests prior to exams)•Career opportunities•Additional chapter-related readings•Anthropology FAQs•PowerPoint lecture notes•Monthly updates

Contents of Contents of Online Learning CenterOnline Learning CenterContents of Contents of Online Learning CenterOnline Learning Center

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

C C h h a a p p t t e e rr 1717

This chapter introduces students to the anthropological study of politics. It focuses on the band, tribe, chiefdom, and state system of sociopolitical organization.

Political SystemsPolitical SystemsPolitical SystemsPolitical Systems

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

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

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

TypologyTypologyIn 1962, Elman Service developed a typology of political

organizations. Bands are small kin-based groups found among foragers. Tribes are associated with non-intensive food production and

have villages and/or descent groups, but lack formal government and social classes.

The chiefdom is a form of sociopolitical organization that is intermediate between the tribe and the state, still kin-based, but characterized by a permanent political structure with some degree of differential access to resources and a political structure.

The state is characterized by formal government and social classes.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

TypologyTypologyIn bands and tribes, the political order (polity) is not a

distinct institution, but is embedded in the overall social order.

Because of this embeddedness, Kottak prefers to speak of sociopolitical (rather than simply political) organization in discussing cross-cultural similarities and differences in the regulation or management of interrelations among groups and their representatives.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Sociopolitical Types and EconomySociopolitical Types and EconomyThere are many correlations between economy and

sociopolitical organization. Foragers tend to have band organization. Horticulturalists and pastoralists tend to have tribal

organization. Agriculturalists tend to have either chiefdom-level or state-

level organization.In general, as the economy becomes more productive,

population size increases leading to greater regulatory problems, which gives rise to more complex social relations and linkages (greater social and political complexity).

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Sociopolitical Types and EconomySociopolitical Types and EconomySociopolitical

TypeEconomic Type Type of

RegulationExamples

Band Foraging Local Inuit, San

Tribe Horticulture, pastoralism

Local, temporary regional

Yanomami, Nuer, Kapauku

Chiefdom Horticulture, pastoral nomadism, agriculture

Permanent regional

Qashqai, Cherokee, Polynesia

State Agriculture, industrialism

Permanent regional

Ancient Mesopotamia, modern United States and Canada

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Foraging BandsForaging BandsIn foraging societies the only two social groups that are

significant are the nuclear family and the band. Membership in these groups is fluid and can change from year

to year. Kin networks, both real and fictive, are created and maintained

through marriage, trade, and visiting.Foraging bands are egalitarian, in that all differences in

status are achieved.Foragers lack formal law, conflict resolution is embedded in

kinship and social ties (e.g. blood feuds).Prestige refers to esteem, respect, or approval for culturally

valued acts or qualities.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Tribal CultivatorsTribal Cultivators Tribes usually have a horticultural or pastoral economy and are

organized by village life and/or descent-group membership. Social classes and formal government are not found in tribes. Small-scale warfare or intervillage raiding is commonly found in tribes. The main regulatory officials are village heads, "big men," descent-

group leaders, village councils, and leaders of pantribal associations. The officials have limited authority. They lead through persuasion and by example, not through coercion.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Tribal CultivatorsTribal CultivatorsLike foragers, tribes are egalitarian.

Tribes often have marked gender stratification. Status in tribes is based on age, gender, and personal traits and

abilities.Horticulturalists are egalitarian and tend to live in small

villages with low population density.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

The Village HeadThe Village HeadThe Yanomami are used as an example of a society with a

village head.The position of village head is achieved but 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.The Village head acts as a mediator in disputes, but he has

no authority to back his decision or impose punishments.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

The Village HeadThe Village HeadThe village head must lead in generosity.

He must be more generous, which means he must cultivate more land.

He hosts feasts for other villages.In the last decade, particularly, the Yanomami have suffered

greatly from violence and disease, both of which have come from the encroaching mining and ranching industries of Brazil.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

The “Big Man”The “Big Man”A big man is like a village head, except that his authority is

regional, in that he may have influence over more than one village.

The big man is common to the South Pacific.Among the Kapauku, the big man is the only political figure

beyond the household. The position is achieved through generosity, eloquence,

bravery, physical fitness, and supernatural powers. His decisions are binding among his followers. He is an important regulator of regional events (e.g. feasts and

markets).

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

The “Big Man”The “Big Man”

Map showing the location of the Kapauku.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

The “Big Man”The “Big Man”In order to be a tribal leader, a big man or village head, a

person must be generous. They must work hard to create a surplus to give away. This surplus is converted into prestige.

The big man is a temporary, regional regulator who can mobilize supporters from several villages for produce and labor on specific occasions.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Segmentary Lineage OrganizationSegmentary Lineage OrganizationSegmentary lineage organization (SLO) is based upon

descent-group structure (typically patrilineal).Segmentary lineages are composed hierarchically, with

smaller units (potentially) combining into larger ones. Maximal lineages share a common ancestor who lived long

ago and whose membership is spread over a large area (inclusive).

Minimal lineages are the smallest unit in which members live in the same village and share a common ancestor who lived no more than four generations ago (exclusive).

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Segmentary Lineage OrganizationSegmentary Lineage OrganizationNilotic peoples, such as the Nuer, are exemplary of

segmentary lineage organization.With SLO, the closer the relationship in terms of descent,

the greater the mutual support and the more distant the common ancestor, the greater the potential for hostility.

Conflict resolution When a dispute develops between people who share a

common living ancestor, he intervenes to settle it. When the combatants do not share a common living ancestor,

a blood feud may develop.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Segmentary Lineage OrganizationSegmentary Lineage Organization

Map showing the location of the Nuer.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Pantribal Sodalities and Age GradesPantribal Sodalities and Age GradesSodalities are non-kin based organizations which may

generate cross-societal linkages. They are 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.Pantribal sodalities tend to be found in areas where two or

more different cultures come into regular contact. Especially in situations where warfare is frequent. Since pantribal sodalities draw their members from several

villages, they can mobilize a large number of men for raids.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Pantribal Sodalities and Age GradesPantribal Sodalities and Age Grades Pressure from European contact created conditions which promoted

pan-tribal sodalities (age sets are one example) among the groups of the North American Great Plains of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Age sets are sodalities that include all of the men born during a certain time span. Similar to a cohort of class of students, like class of 2004. Members of an age set progress through a series of age grades

together (e.g. initiated youth, warrior, adult, elder or in American universities: freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate).

Secret societies are sodalities with secret initiation ceremonies. Sodalities create non-kin linkages between people based on age, gender,

and ritual and create a sense of ethnic identity and belonging to the same cultural tradition.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Pantribal Sodalities and Age GradesPantribal Sodalities and Age Grades

This photograph shows the warrior (ilmurran) age grade of the Masai dancing with a group of girls from a lower age grade (intoyie).

Photo Credit: Douglas Kirkland/ The Image Bank

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Pantribal Sodalities and Age GradesPantribal Sodalities and Age Grades

Map showing location of Masai.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Nomadic PoliticsNomadic Politics Nomads must interact with a variety of groups, unlike most sedentary

societies. Powerful chiefs are commonly found in nomadic groups that have large

populations (e.g. the Basseri and the Qashqai of southern Iran). The Basseri have a smaller population and their chief, khan, is similar to

a village head or big man. The position is achieved. Allegiances are with the person, not the office.

The larger Qashqai have multiple levels of authority and more powerful chiefs. Their authority can be more coercive. Allegiance are with the office, not the person.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Nomadic PoliticsNomadic Politics

Map showing the location of the Qashqai and Basseri.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Chiefdoms and StatesChiefdoms and StatesChiefdoms are a transitional form of sociopolitical

organization between tribes and states.Carneiro (1970) defines the state as “an autonomous

political unit encompassing many communities within its territory, having a centralized government with the power to collect taxes, draft men for work or war, and decree and enforce laws. archaic or nonindustrial states industrial or modern states

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

ChiefdomsChiefdoms Unlike band and tribal political systems, chiefdoms and states are

permanent: their offices outlast the individuals who occupy them. An office is a permanent position of authority that exists independently

of the person who occupies it. It must be refilled when it is vacated. Offices ensure that the sociopolitical organization endures across

generations. Chiefs play an important role in the production, distribution, and

consumption of resources. Chiefs collect foodstuffs as tribute (upward movement). Chiefs later redistribute these collect foodstuffs at feasts (downward

movement).

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

ChiefdomsChiefdoms

Chiefdoms created the megalithic cultures of Europe, such as the one that built Stonehenge.

Photo Credit: Louis H. Jawitz/The Image Bank

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Chiefdoms: Social StatusChiefdoms: Social StatusIn chiefdoms, social status is based on seniority of descent.All of the people in a chiefdom are believed to have

descended from a group of common ancestors. The closer you and your lineage are related to those founding

ancestors, the greater your prestige. In chiefdoms, there is a continuum of prestige with the chief at

one end and the lowest ranking individuals at the other. The chief must demonstrate his seniority of descent.

Chiefdoms lack social classes.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Chiefdoms and States: Social StatusChiefdoms and States: Social StatusUnlike tribal and band organizations, there are systemic

status distinctions in chiefly and state societies.State and chiefdom status systems are based upon

differential access to wealth and resources, and differential allocation of rights and duties. States are characterized by much clearer class divisions than

chiefdoms, typically associated with stratum endogamy. The result of stratum endogamy is social stratification, the

hierarchical arrangement of unrelated classes. Social stratification, social classes, is one of the key

distinguishing features of states.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Social StratificationSocial StratificationWeber’s Dimensions of Social Stratification

Wealth or economic status Political status based upon power Social status based upon prestige

In chiefdoms, all three dimensions are tied to kinship and descent.

In the early states, distinctions in all three dimensions appeared between endogamous groups for the first time.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

Social Status in Archaic StatesSocial Status in Archaic StatesIn archaic states there were two basic class distinctions.

The superordinate stratum was the elite or higher class that had privileged access to wealth, power, and other valued resources.

The subordinate stratum was the lower or underprivileged class.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

States: SpecializationStates: SpecializationStates have specialized units that perform specific tasks.

Population control: fixing boundaries, establishing citizenship, and the taking of a census

Judiciary: laws, legal procedure, and judges Enforcement: permanent military and police forces Fiscal: taxation These subsystems were more or less embedded into the overall

ruling systems of archaic states.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

States: Population ControlStates: Population ControlStates use administrative divisions to control their

populations. Provinces, districts, counties, and townships. Each administrative divisions is managed by state officials.

States displace the role and importance that kinship has in bands, tribes, and chiefdoms.

States foster geographic mobility and resettlement.States assign differential rights to different status

distinctions. citizens vs. non-citizens elites vs. commoners vs. slaves soldiers vs. civilians

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

States: JudiciaryStates: JudiciaryLaws are explicit codes for behavior, issued by the state,

and are distinct from the consensual mores and expectations that exist in non-state societies.

The state is unique as a political system in that it governs family affairs.

The presence of laws has not reduced violence—indeed, states are responsible for some of the most violent episodes in human history.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

States: EnforcementStates: EnforcementA judiciary obligates the existence of a system of

enforcement.The judiciary and enforcement typically work not only to

control internal and external conflict, but also to preserve the existing state hierarchy.

© 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill

States: Fiscal SystemsStates: Fiscal SystemsState rulers typically perform no subsistence activities.The fiscal system serves to support the rulers and ruling

structure by collecting a portion of that produced by other members of the state.

Fiscal systems of archaic states also worked to maintain and elaborate class distinctions, as in the support of sumptuary goods for the elites.