1 / 16

Chapter 12

Chapter 12. Political Organization. Chapter Questions. What roles do politics, law and religion play in regulating human behavior? What are the major forms of political organization and how are they related to other features of culture and society?. Chapter Questions.

keira
Download Presentation

Chapter 12

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Chapter 12 Political Organization

  2. Chapter Questions • What roles do politics, law and religion play in regulating human behavior? • What are the major forms of political organization and how are they related to other features of culture and society?

  3. Chapter Questions • How do anthropologists explain warfare in tribal societies? • How have anthropologists contributed to alternative forms of conflict management in the united sates? • What does the prehistoric Asante state tell us about the connections between political power and social stratification?

  4. Egalitarian Societies • No individual or group has more access to resources, power, or prestige than any other. • No fixed number of social positions for which individuals must compete. • Associated with bands and tribes.

  5. Rank Society • Institutionalized differences in prestige but no restrictions on access to basic resources. • Individuals obtain what they need to survive through their kinship group. • Associated with horticulture or pastoral societies with a surplus of food. • Associated with chiefdoms.

  6. Stratified Society • Formal, permanent, social and economic inequality. • Some people are denied access to basic resources. • Characterized by differences in standard of living, security, prestige and political power.

  7. Stratified Society • Economically organized by market systems. • Based on intensive cultivation (agriculture) and industrialism. • Associated with form of political organization called the state.

  8. Women and Political Offices • Yoruba of Nigeria - certain offices were reserved to represent women’s interests. • Nigeria - some Igbo groups had a female ruler and council concerned with women’s affairs. • Mende - women were paramount chiefs, who derived their power from their roles as mothers.

  9. Social Control of Behavior Ways societies deal with abnormal behavior and conflict: • Gossip and ridicule • Fear of witchcraft accusations • Avoidance • Supernatural sanctions

  10. Law • Law is found in every society. • In complex societies, functions of law belong to legal institutions, such as courts. • Law addresses conflicts that would otherwise disrupt community life.

  11. Band Societies • Small group of people (20 to 50) • Related by blood or marriage • Live together and are loosely associated with a territory in which they forage • Egalitarian

  12. Band Societies: Leadership • Decision-making is by consensus. • Leaders are older men and women. • Leaders cannot enforce their decisions; They can only persuade. • Sharing and generosity are important sources of respect.

  13. Band Societies: Social Order • Maintained by gossip, ridicule, and avoidance. • Violations of norms are sins. • Offenders may be controlled through ritual means such as public confessions. • Offender is defined as a patient rather than a criminal.

  14. Tribal Societies • Members consider themselves descended from the same ancestor. • Found primarily among pastoralists and horticulturalists. • Egalitarian • Leadership: Bigman

  15. Chiefdom Societies Characteristics: • Monumental architecture • Distinct ceremonial centers • Elaborate grave goods reflect high social status • Larger settlements by smaller villages • Cultivators and pastoralists

  16. State Societies • Central government with monopoly over the use of force. • More populous, heterogeneous, and powerful than other political organizations. • Able to organize large populations for coordinated action. • Defend against external threats.

More Related