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POLITICAL ORGANIZATION (continued):State Systems, Nation-States

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Introduction to Cultural Anthropology ­ SOC401
VU
Lesson 26
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION (continued)
State Systems
State systems have the greatest amount of political integration, specialized political roles and maintain
authority on the basis of an ideology. States are associated with intensive agriculture market economies,
urbanization, and complex forms of social stratification.
States began to be formed 5,500 years ago with the Greek city-states and the Roman Empire providing
impressive examples of state based political organization.
States have a monopoly on the use of force and can make and enforce laws, collect taxes, and recruit labor
for military service and public works, which differentiates them from other forms of political organization.
States are now the most prominent form of political organization found around the world today.
Nation-States
A nation is a group pf people sharing a common symbolic identity, culture history and religion. A state is a
distinct political structure like bands, tribes and chiefdoms.
Nation-state refers to a group of people sharing a common cultural background and unified by a political
structure that they consider to be legitimate. Few of the world's 200 nation-states have homogenous
populations to fit the description of a nation state.
Political Organization Theories
Theories explaining the rise of state systems of government have centered on the question of why people
surrender some of their autonomy to the power and authority of the state.
There are theorists who argue that political organization is influenced by self interest and other theorists
argue that self interest is not enough to give shape to political systems and that such organization often
involves a certain amount of coercion.
Voluntaristic State Formation
Some theorists suggest that those engaging in specialized labor voluntarily gave up their autonomy in
exchange for perceived benefits.
Political integration can mediate between and protect interests of varied groups and provide them an
economic superstructure required for specialization (Chide, 1936).
Hydraulic Theory of State Formation
Small-scale farmers in arid or semi-arid areas also voluntarily merged into larger political entities due to the
economic advantage of large-scale irrigation (Karl Wittfogel, 1957)
Coercive Theory of State Formation
Another explanation for state based political organization is that offered by Carneiro, hold that states
developed as a result of warfare and coercion rather than due to voluntary self-interest.
Useful Terms
Coercion: use of force
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Introduction to Cultural Anthropology ­ SOC401
VU
Arid: dry
Small-scale farmers: farmers possessing a little amount of land
Irrigation: the channeling of water from its natural route for the purposes of agriculture
Monopoly: dominating the production of a particular product
Hydraulic: water-based
Homogenous: identical to others, opposite of heterogeneous
Recruit: to include or to involve
Suggested Readings
Students are advised to read the following chapters to develop a better understanding of the various
principals highlighted in this hand-out:
Chapter 12 in `Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective' by Ferrarro and/or Chapter 23 in `Anthropology' by
Ember and Pergrine
Internet Resources
In addition to reading from the textbook, please visit the following web-site for this lecture, which provide
useful and interesting information:
Political Organization4
http://anthro.palomar.edu/political/default.htm
4
Please follow the hyperlink on the website to read about state systems
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Table of Contents:
  1. WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?:Cultural Anthropology, Internet Resources
  2. THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND THE APPLICATION OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
  3. MAJOR THEORIES IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY:Diffusionism
  4. GROWTH OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY (continued):Post Modernism
  5. METHODS IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY:Comments on Fieldwork
  6. METHODS IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY (continued):Census Taking
  7. COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION AND CONSUMPTION IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD
  8. ECONOMIC ANTHROPOLOGY (continued):THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOODS AND SERVICES
  9. FOCUSING ON LANGUAGE:Languages of the World, Structure of Language
  10. FOCUS ON LANGUAGE (continued):Levels of Complexity, Cultural Emphasis
  11. OBTAINING FOOD IN DIFFERENT CULTURES:Optimal Foraging, Suggested Readings
  12. FOOD AND CULTURE (continued):Food Collectors, Food Production
  13. OBTAINING FOOD IN DIFFERENT CULTURE (continued):Pastoralism, Agriculture
  14. RELEVANCE OF KINSHIP AND DESCENT:Kinship Criteria, Rules of Descent
  15. KINSHIP AND DESCENT (continued):Tracing Descent, Primary Kinship Systems
  16. THE ROLE OF FAMILY AND MARRIAGE IN CULTURE:Economic Aspect of Marriage
  17. ROLE OF FAMILY AND MARRIAGE IN CULTURE (continued):Family Structures
  18. GENDER AND CULTURE:Gender Stratification, Suggested Readings
  19. GENDER ROLES IN CULTURE (continued):Women Employment, Feminization of Poverty
  20. STRATIFICATION AND CULTURE:Social Ranking, Dimensions of Inequality
  21. THEORIES OF STRATIFICATION (continued):The Functionalists, Conflict Theorists
  22. CULTURE AND CHANGE:Inventions, Diffusion, Donor, Conventional
  23. CULTURE AND CHANGE (continued):Cultural Interrelations, Reaction to Change
  24. CULTURE AND CHANGE (continued):Planned Change, Globalization
  25. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION:Bands, Tribal Organizations, Chiefdoms
  26. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION (continued):State Systems, Nation-States
  27. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION (continued):Social Norms, Informal Mechanisms
  28. PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE:Emotional Development, Psychological Universals
  29. PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE (continued):Origin of Customs, Personality Types
  30. IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE:Ideology in Everyday Life, Hegemony
  31. IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE (Continued):Political ideologies, Economic Ideology
  32. ASSOCIATIONS, CULTURES AND SOCIETIES:Variation in Associations, Age Sets
  33. ASSOCIATIONS, CULTURES AND SOCIETIES (continued):Formation of Associations
  34. RACE, ETHNICITY AND CULTURE:Similarity in Human Adaptations
  35. RACE, ETHNICITY AND CULTURE (continued):Inter-group Relations
  36. CULTURE AND BELIEFS:Social Function of Religion, Politics and Beliefs
  37. LOCAL OR INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE:Changing Definitions of Local Knowledge
  38. LOCAL OR INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE (continued):The Need for Caution
  39. ANTHROPOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT:Influence of Development Notions
  40. ANTHROPOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT (Continued):Contentions in Development
  41. ANTHROPOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT (Continued):Operational
  42. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ART:Relevance of Art, Art and Politics
  43. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ART (continued):Art as a Status Symbol
  44. ETHICS IN ANTHROPOLOGY:Ethical Condemnation, Orientalism
  45. RELEVANCE OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY:Ensuring Cultural Survival