ANTH 2 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Kalahari Desert, Heredity, Centralized Government
29 Aug 2020
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Document Summary
The intersection of power, politics, religion, and economics. Function of political systems: how power is organized and structured, how social order is created and maintained. 4 basic types of systems: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, states. Probably the oldest type of human social group. Leaders are informal and have no real power to enforce behavior. Ju/"hoansi (!kung) of the kalahari desert, africa. Extended kin groups (clans) when bands join together. Share common ancestry, ethnicity, territory, or identity. May result for economic reasons or defense. Subsistence is based on crops or herding. Informal leadership; headmen, headwomen, or big man . Neighboring communities united under a single ruling chief . Often heredity ruling family; ruler"s offspring inherit the position. Chief has real authority and control of economy. Can be unstable as lesser chiefs try to take power from higher-ranking chiefs. Ranked chiefs; paramount chief who has authority over several lesser chiefs. This system is formal and recognized by government.
