Chiefdoms and States: Social Stratification

• SSF 1044 examines the Introduction to Anthropology & Sociology, focusing on Power and Politics.
• Aristotle stated in Politics, 350 B.C. that "Man is by nature a political animal".

Power vs Authority

• Power is the ability to exercise one's will over others.
• Authority is the socially approved use of power.

Political Organization

• Political organization is an aspect of social organization.
• Political organization encompasses portions of social organizations that specifically relate to individuals or groups that manage public policy affairs or seek to control individual or group activities.

Typology of Political Organizations

• In 1962, anthropologist Elman Service developed a typology of political organizations.
• Bands consist of small, kin-based groups found among foragers.
• Tribes are linked to non-intensive food production, having villages and/or descent groups without formal government or social classes.
• A chiefdom is a sociopolitical organization intermediate between tribe and state, kin-based, with a lasting political structure and differential resource access.
• The state is identified by its formal government and social classes.
• In bands and tribes, political order (polity) is not an isolated institution but included within the social order as a whole.
• Kottak prefers the term sociopolitical organization when discussing cross-cultural similarities and differences because it is more inclusive.

Sociopolitical Types and Economy

• There are correlations between economy and sociopolitical organization.
• Foragers often have band organizations.
• Horticulturalists and pastoralists tend to have tribal organizations.
• Agriculturalists tend to have either chiefdom-level or state-level organizations.
• More productive economies typically lead to increased population sizes, leading to greater regulatory problems and more complex social and political structures.

Sociopolitical Types and Economy Table:

• Band: Foraging, local regulation, Inuit, San
• Tribe: Horticulture and pastoralism, local and temporary regulation, Yanomami, Nuer, Kapauku
• Chiefdom: Horticulture, pastoral nomadism, agriculture, permanent regional regulation, Qashqai, Cherokee, Polynesia
• State: Agriculture and industrialism, permanent regional regulation, Ancient Mesopotamia, modern United States and Canada

Foraging Bands

• Bands are represented by small, kin-based groups, where members are linked by kinship or marriage ties.
• In foraging societies, the nuclear family and the band are the only two significant social groups.
• Membership in these groups can change from year to year.
• Kin networks are created and maintained through marriage, trade, and visiting.
• Foraging bands are egalitarian, and status differences are achieved.
• Foragers do not have formal law; and conflict resolution is part of kinship and social ties.
• Prestige is respect or approval.

Tribal Cultivators

• Tribes generally maintain a horticultural or pastoral economy, organized by village life and/or descent-group membership.
• Social classes and formal government are absent in tribes.
• Small-scale warfare or inter-village raiding is not uncommon.
• Key officials include village heads, "big men," descent-group leaders, village councils, and leaders of pantribal associations.
• These officials have limited power, and lead through persuasion and example.
• Like foragers, tribes are egalitarian.
• Horticulturalists are egalitarian and typically live in low-density villages.
• Egalitarianism decreases as village size and population density increase.

The Village Head

• Horticultural villages usually have headmen (rarely, headwomen).
• An example is the Yanomami of is in the Amazon region in Brazil and Venezuela.
• Village heads secure their positions but have restricted authority with its position.
• They cannot force or coerce people and can only persuade and influence via their generosity.
• Village heads serve as mediators in disputes, but have no authority to enforce decisions or punishments.

The "Big Man"

• A big man has regional authority, influencing multiple villages,.
• The big man is common to the South Pacific.
• Among the Kapauku, in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, the big man, is the only political figure outside the household.
• Their position (prestige) and is achieved through generosity, eloquence, bravery, physical fitness, and supernatural powers.
• Decisions made by the big men are binding among followers.
• They regulate regional events like feasts and markets.
• Kapauku cultivation involves techniques for specific land types.
• Labour-intensive cultivation in valleys involves mutual aid and is organized by the "big man".
• Kapauku cultivation sustains a denser population compared to the Yanomami.
• Big men's wealth surpasses villagers, unlike Yanomami village heads.

Chiefdoms and States

• Chiefdoms are a sociopolitical organization between tribes and states and act as an intermediary stage.
• Carneiro defined (1970) the state as a self-governing unit comprising multiple communities, possessing a centralized government with the power to tax, draft individuals for labor or military service, and enact and enforce laws.
• Examples include archaic/nonindustrial states and industrial/modern states.

Chiefdoms

• Chiefdoms and states differentiate from bands and tribal systems.
• Their offices last beyond their occupants.
• An office is a permanent position of power separate from its occupant,.
• It continues when vacated by the previous occupier.
• Offices ensures the continuity of the sociopolitical organization.
• Chiefs facilitate production, distribution, and consumption of resources.
• They gather tribute and redistribute foodstuffs at feasts.

Chiefdoms: Social Status

• In chiefdoms, social status depends on seniority of descent.
• All chiefdom residents are descendants of common ancestors.
• Proximity to founding ancestors determines prestige.
• Chiefdoms feature a prestige continuum from the chief to lower-ranked individuals.
• Chiefs are senior descendants and have knowledge of genealogy.

Chiefdoms and States: Social Status

• Status distinctions in chiefly and state societies differ from tribal and band organizations.
• State and chiefdom status systems are based on differential and wealth access.
• States have clearer class divisions with stratum endogamy.
• Social stratification and distinct social classes are key state markers.

Social Stratification

• Weber's dimensions of social stratification include:
• Wealth or economic status.
• Political status on power.
• Social status centered on prestige.
• In chiefdoms, all three dimensions are related to kinship and descent.
• Early states first revealed distinctions across these dimensions between endogamous groups.

Social Status in Archaic States

• In ancient states and their were two basic class distinctions::
• The superordinate stratum of elites had preferential access to resources.
• The subordinate stratum comprised the underprivileged.

States: Specialization

• States have specialized units.
• Population control involves defining boundaries, citizenship, and census taking.
• Judiciary systems establish laws, legal procedure, and judges.
• Enforcement involves military and police forces.
• Fiscal matters concern with taxation.
• These subsystems are embedded in archaic ruling systems.

States: Population Control

• States governments use administrative divisions to oversee populations.
• Administrative divisions are managed by state representatives.
• States usurp the role of kinship within bands, tribes, and. chiefdoms.
• States promote mobility and resettlement.
• States differentiate rights across statuses such as:
• Citizens against non-citizens, etc.
• Elites against commoners and slaves, etc.
• Soldiers compared to civilians.

States: Judiciary

• State codified behavior differs from non-state traditions.
• Governments oversee family situations.
• Law presence has not reduced violence.

States: Enforcement

• A judicial system requires enforcement.
• Enforcement protects internal and external conflict and state structures.

States: Fiscal Systems

• State leadership completes not subsist.
• Rulers depend on members for resources.
• Fiscal practices in archaic countries enhanced status of elite.