Socio-Political organisations- Tribal

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  • Created by: Heather
  • Created on: 23-12-16 00:03
What is western view in political philosophy that orderly societies can only exist how?
It can only exist if there is a strong central authority, democratic or autocratic
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How far back does this idea go?
It goes back at least as far as Aristotle among the Ancient Greeks,
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What is a fundamental question asked by anthropologists about human society?
What keeps humans together in social groups rather than simply every family working on its own with its own self-interests
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What has the idea been traditionally about what a centralised political authority provides?
It provides the necessary social 'glue' which holds people together in groups,
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What has been thought would happen without this?
There would be no morals, no laws, no unity or even purpose among humans,
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What philosopher believed this ideology when, believing humans aren't naturally good?
Thomas Hobbes in the 17th century
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How did he describe human nature?
as "selfishly hedonistic"
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How does he describe volunteering among humans?
"of the voluntary acts of every man, the object is some good to himself,
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What did he argue human motives were and what would happen if these were left unchecked?
-He argued human motives were, in their natural state, guided by unenlightened self-interest, -If left unchecked, they would have highly destructive consequences for everyone,
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What book did he publish his views in and when?
Leviathan 1651
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If left unrestrained, humans propelled by what would what with each other?
Humans, propelled by their internal dynamics, would crash against each other,
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What society did Hobbes envision?
One in a "state of nature", before any civil state or rule of law,
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For Hobbe's conclusions, what did he say about men living without a common power?
"During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition called warre, and such a warre, as if of every man, against every man."
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For Hobbe's conclusions, how did Hobbe argue life would be?
He described life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."
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For a solution to this problem according to Hobbes, what was needed to keep society going with peace and confidence? What was this?
An artifice, A Leviathan, must be worked into the social contract, -An artifice was a skilfully contrived device,
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What is the Leviathan? Does it matter what state it is in according to Hobbes?
It is the state, -Whether the form is of an absolute monarchy or a democratic parliament, it doesn't matter,
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Why is the State important?
It will be given a monopoly of violence and absolute power to keep people "in awe",
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In return, what does the state do with this?
In return the state promises to exercise its absolute power to maintain a state of peace (e.g. By Punishing deviants)
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What did Hobbes argue was the link between law and power?
He argued law itself is completely dependent on power,
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What is the law without a credible and powerful authority (E.g. an example)?
E.g. Physical force, -It is just simply not a law in any meaningful sense,
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What is the role of power?
Power legitimises and power is justice,
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What is the state, whatever its form by definition as long it is capable of what?
-The state is always right, -As long as it is capable of maintaining civil peace,
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Therefore, Hobbe argues it stands to reason that without a form of state there is no what?
There is no civil peace,
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However, what discoveries in the 19th and 20th centuries were made?
Societies were discovered with no obvious rulers and no central authority,
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Whose ideas did this contradict about what keeps people together?
-Aristotle, Hobbes and most western thought,
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What types of groups often have no centralised authority?
Many small hunter-gatherer groups
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However, why were anthropologists never worried about contradicting these ideas?
AS these were so small, diffuse and "primitive",
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However, what other numerous societies did Anthropologists find and how were they composed?
They found numerous societies among herders and agriculturalists which were composed of tight-knit groups,
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Why do these societies matter more in terms of refuting western ideas about keeping people together?
AS sometimes the societies numbered to their thousands and there seemed to be no rulers or leaders with genuine coercive power,
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Therefore, what question are anthropologists asking?
Why/how was civil peace maintained in these societies?
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What is another word for "tribes without rulers" or stateless societies and what does it mean?
Acephalous, or headless
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In stateless societies, what is the social glue?
Kinship,
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What areas does kinship dominate in these societies?
It dominates economic, political organisation, ritual, socialisation, dispute settlements etc.
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How do anthropologists study all these aspects when amongst the tribe?
It is impossible to study these different areas of behaviour separately in these societies,
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What are all these aspects included in?
A kinship matrix or idiom
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Where do Tribal societies lie in the simple to complex society scale?
Organisationally, they lie between the simplest bands of certain hunter-gatherer groups and chiefdoms, so are overall simple,
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In reality, is the cut between these types of societies clear?
No- There is a huge specturm of "tribal" societies in this sense, between bands and states,
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What can some societies have rather than specific leadership based on personalities?
Some have a few individuals with strong personalities,
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What can some societies have rather than specific leadership based on power levels?
Others have a formally recognised leadership role but this may have very little actual power,
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What can some societies have rather than specific leadership based on chiefs?
Quite a number of societies have recognised chief, but in many the amount of power they have is limited,
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However, what often is the link between 'tribal' societies and organised political centralisation?
Often 'tribal societies', especially at the least politically centralised end of the scale, superficially don't eem to have any organisational structure at all,
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What three things have anthropologists found difficult to discover based on political organisation?
1) How they function, 2) What social mechanism holds society together, 3) How disputes are solved peacefully without any authoritative figure,
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What tribal group did Napoleon Chagnon study?
The Yanomamo
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Give a quote from Chagnon describing the first time he saw them?
"I looked up and gasped when I saw a dozen burly, naked, sweaty, hideous men staring at us down the shafts of their drawn arrows!"
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Where are the Yanomamo situated?
In Southern Venezuela and Northern Brazil
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Where do the yanomamo live over this area of land?
They live in 125 dispersed villages,
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What do the yanomamo depend on for growing crops and hunting meals?
They depend on slash-and-burn (swidden) agriculture in the surrounding jungle,
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For every village, what is the population on average?
Between 40 and 250 people,
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For every village, what kind of unit is it?
it is an independent political unit,
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For every village, what leadership role is there?
Every village has a headman, but his role in controlling the actions of others is very limited,
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Are there any larger political units?
No, only individual villages,
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What was the total population when Chagnon started his studies?
Around 10,000
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How is warfare between villages and a definition?
-They are endemic (ongoing),
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What is the warfare like?
It is generally in the form of raids on other villages in which warriors try to kill as many men and capture as many wives as possible,
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For any Yanomamo village, what are the 2 categories other villages fit into?
1) Allies 2) Potential or actual enemies,
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What are the three exchanges used by villages to turn enemies into allies?
1) Trading exchanges, 2) Feasting, 3) Exchaning women in mariage,
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Therefore exchange is not simply utilitarian but also what?
An essential part of the political system e.g. 'social fact',
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As the Yanomamo headman are expected to be more generous than other villagers, what power does he have?
He cultivates more land than others,
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Does he gain much from this power?
No, he gains very little in a material way from his position,
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Who can he give orders to?
His wives, children and substantially younger brothers,
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However, who can't he give orders to?
Brothers of his own age or older, or other adults in the community- if tried he will be ignored,
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Therefore, how must leadership be done?
Through persuasion,
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What is the headman's role for the village based on the village?
He acts as a representative of his village in its dealings with other villages,
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What is another of his role based on feasts?
He acts as the main host for feasts in his own village,
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What is another role based on other villages?
He will sometimes go to other villages to arrange feasts with them,
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For a summary of the headman, what is his position devoid of?
Institutional power,
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However, what authority does he have if any?
He has personal authority,
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Although, what is the only way he can gain supporters?
Through the force of his own personality,
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Who are these supporters most likely to be?
Most likely to be his own close relatives- the importance of kinship again,
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What do the Yanomamo believe is the principle reason for the frequency of raids on villages?
A shortage of women,
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What is the Yanomamo's explanation for endemic warfare beginning with shortage of women?
A shortage of women leads to raid for women, and then there is a greater need for warriors and emphasis on male fierceness which leads to an emphasis on male children and so preferential female infanticide,
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In a dispute between individuals within a village over women, who is likely to be the winner?
The 'winner' is likely to be the person who is most aggressive and who can mobilise the most support, generally from close kin,
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What do these facts emphasise about 2 basic functions brought out by tribal societies?
1) The constant threat of violence underlying disputes, 2) THe value of kin for support,
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Who wrote these basic features in their book?
Sahlins,
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When does the regularity of disputes over women increase?
AS the Yanomamo village sizes increase
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AS the headman has no real power, what can't he do to sort the situation?
He cannot impose dispute settlements on the parties involved,
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What eventually happens in a large village when a dispute arises which is intractable with many supporters?
The unity of the village will break down, leading to its split into 2 factions, one of which moves away and produces two villages,
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What tribe are from where in Africa?
-The Nuer of Southern Sudan
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What type of group are they?
They are cultivators and herders,
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How are they spread geographically?
There are several independent tribes, who live in small villages, usually of close related families,
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How many people are in one tribe?
Around several thousand,
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How are all the villages linked creating a tribe?
Villages are linked to other villages through kinship,
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What is the general belief about the villages and their distances from one another?
Neighbouring villages tend to contain people who are more closely related than people in more distant villages,
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Do they have effective political leaders?
No, but they have leopard skin chiefs,
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What is their role?
They have a recognise role above the local level, but only to act as dispute mediators in difficult disputes,
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What powers do they hold? However, what are their limitations?
They have ritual powers to bless and curse, but cannot impose decisions on parties involve in disputes,
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What is Nuer kinship like?
Nuer have a segmentary linage system, a group of relatives,
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Which tribe also has this system?
The Tiv of Nigeria
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For segmentary linage system, how is this viewed from an individual participant's perspective?
The system can be viewed as a series of ever more inclusive groups,
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For Nuer disputes, what do they often end in?
Vioence
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What happens if it results in killing?
When this results in a killing, all families which are more closely related to one or other of the initial disputants take sides,
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What are the numbers of supporters on each side dependent on?
It is dependent on how closely the disputants were. -If they were closely related, only a few relatives would be involved on each side,
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In a homicide, what initially occurs?
The kin of the victim try to kill the killer
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However, what happens if this drags on?
Close kin of the killer can also be legitimate targets,
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What does the killer usually do when being hunted and why?
he flees to a leopard skin chief house as it is considered sanctuary
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In Nuer homicide disputes, what does the leopard skin chief act as and what is his role?
He acts as a mediator to settle the dispute,
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How is the dispute often solved?
Usually via payment of cattle to the dead man's family and close kin,
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What can these cattle be used for in terms of a wife?
These cattle can be used sometimes as bride wealth to obtain a "wife" for the dead man: her children will "belong" to him,
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To summarise, for characteristics of tribal societies, what food methods do they depend on?
Simple farming and herding,
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What political structures do they often have?
They have relatively egalitarian societies- No really strong leadership roles to solve disputes,
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What political authority can these have?
Headman or chief
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Is the headman or chief's power limited?
Yes, they have no institutionalised power but a considerable amount of personal authority,
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Therefore, what can the chief's role at best be?
A mediator,
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What part of these societies is crucial for disputants?
Kinship
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What is another characteristic of these societies based on settlement disputes?
The existence and sanction of physical violence,
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Why does serious disputes need to be settled?
As armed confluct disrupts the business of getting on with everyday life,
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Why does Hobbe's "warre of every man... against every man" not apply here?
AS the use of physical force is embedded in and controlled by culturally agreed rules,
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How far back does this idea go?

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It goes back at least as far as Aristotle among the Ancient Greeks,

Card 3

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Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

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What has the idea been traditionally about what a centralised political authority provides?

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Card 5

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What has been thought would happen without this?

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