Overview

This field challenges the idea that politics only happens in government buildings. It looks at how power is negotiated in all societies, from small bands of foragers to complex modern states.

Core Idea

Societies are often classified by political complexity (Service’s typology):

  1. Bands: Small, egalitarian, kin-based groups.
  2. Tribes: Larger groups with sodalities (non-kin groups) but no central leader.
  3. Chiefdoms: Ranked societies with a hereditary leader.
  4. States: Centralized governments with a monopoly on force.

Formal Definition (if applicable)

Power vs. Authority: Power is the ability to influence or control others (can be coercive). Authority is the socially recognized right to wield power (legitimacy).

Intuition

In a band, if someone steals, the group might shame or ostracize them (informal social control). In a state, the police arrest them (formal legal control). Both are political acts.

Examples

  • Big Man: A leader in Melanesian societies who gains influence not through office but through persuasion and generosity (ongka’s big moka).
  • Acephalous Societies: “Headless” societies that function effectively without leaders or laws (e.g., the Nuer).
  • Resistance: How marginalized groups use “weapons of the weak” (foot-dragging, humor) to resist power.

Common Misconceptions

  • “Societies without governments are chaotic.” (They have complex social rules to maintain order.)
  • “Democracy is the only legitimate form of politics.” (Anthropologists study the legitimacy of many different systems.)
  • Hegemony: Leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group.
  • Social Control: Mechanisms that regulate individual and group behavior.
  • Warfare: Organized violence between political units.

Applications

  • Conflict Resolution: Using traditional methods to resolve modern disputes.
  • International Relations: Understanding the cultural dynamics of state interaction.
  • Activism: Analyzing power structures to effect social change.

Criticism / Limitations

Evolutionary typologies (band-tribe-chiefdom-state) are criticized for implying a linear progress toward the state, ignoring how these forms can coexist or devolve.

Further Reading

  • Evans-Pritchard, The Nuer
  • Scott, Weapons of the Weak
  • Wolf, Europe and the People Without History