Dimensions of Social Organization

1
Dimensions of Social Organization

• Less complex societies Descent, gender, age,
  religion, economic exchange, marriage alliances
• Stratified societies Occupation, class,
  caste, race, ethnicity

2
Anthropological Approaches

• Primitive vs. civilized societies
• Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
• Mechanical solidarity
• Organic solidarity
• Degree of specialization/division of labor
• Kinship studies
• Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881)
• Evolutionary stages (savagery?barbarism?civilizati
  on)
• Influenced Marx (1818-1883) and Engels
  (1820-1895) modes of production (ancient
  ?feudal?capitalist)

3
Anthropological Approaches Materialist/Ecological

• Julian Steward (1955) Cultural ecology
• Subsistence strategies foraging, pastoralism,
  horticulture, intensive agriculture/industrial
  
• Marvin Harris (1970s-90s)
• Cultural materialism
• Cows, Pigs, Wars Witches, The Potlatch
• Morton Fried (1967) Social inequality
• egalitarian, rank, stratified
• Elman Service (1971) Political organization
  bands, tribes, chiefdoms, states
• Karl Polanyi (1970s) - Economic exchange
• reciprocity, redistribution, market exchange

Ideology
social organization
Economic subsistence
4
Social Stratification/Inequality

• Hierarchical groups strata
• Max Weber (1946)
• Wealth
• Land, cattle, income, equity, cash
• Power
• Knowledge, eloquence, reputation, skill
• Prestige
• Social esteem, respect based on norms, values
• Wealth, expertise, talent, age, profession

5
Types of Societies

• Egalitarian
• Foraging (bands)
• Horticulture and foraging/pastoralism (tribes)
• Equal access to wealth, power, prestige
• No political role specialization (sometimes a
  headman, but no coercive authority)
• Division of labor by age and sex
• Mechanical solidarity
• Reciprocity

6

• Rank
• Unequal access to prestige
• Some equal access to wealth and power
• 2 strata rulers/elites and commoners
• Chiefdoms
• Horticulture, some foraging
• Limited political and occupational role
  specialization
• Redistribution

7

• Stratified
• 3 or more hierarchical strata
• Unequal access to wealth, power, and prestige
• Intensive agricultural/industrial states
• High degree of role specialization/division of
  labor
• Organic solidarity
• Market exchange

8

• E. Service M. Fried K. Polanyi
  Subsistence Ethnographic Social
• Polit Org Society Type Exchange
  Strategy Example Status
• Bands egalitarian reciprocity
  foraging Ju/hoansi, Inuit Achieved
• Tribes egalitarian reciprocity
  horticult/pastoral Yanomamö, Nuer Achieved
• (Big-man) (egalitarian)
  (redistribution) horticulture Kawelka,
  Kaoka Achieved
• Chiefdoms ranked redistribution
  agriculture Hawaiian, Trobriands Ascribed
• States stratified market exch.
  intens ag/indust Inca, Egypt, U.S., India
  Both

9
Stratified Societies

• Caste
• Ascribed
• Limited or no social mobility (?)
• India
• Endogamous
• Occupations
• Purity and pollution
• Class
• Economic
• Achieved
• Marx bourgeoisie and proletariats
• Privileged access to resources
• Ruling classes
• Mobility (?)
• Dissent
• Bureaucracy

10
Cross-cutting Social Forms

• Sodalities (egalitarian and rank societies
  organized by kinship)
• Age-set systems (East Africa)
• Age grades
• Secret societies (West Africa)
• Patron-client relationships (stratified
  societies)
• Compadrazgo (co-parents/godparents)
• compadre
• comadre
• Fictive kinship
• Jajmani

11
Race, Ethnicity, Gender

• Race
• Unequal meeting of groups
• No consistent biological basis
• Variable between and within societies
• Social race
• Ethnicity
• Shared history, territory, language, or religion
• Set of relationships to other groups
• Nation
• Nation-states
• Conflict
• Globalization

12
Gender and Postmodernism

• Gender
• Universal
• Androcentric bias
• Womens roles and biology
• Margaret Mead, feminist anthropology
• biology ? destiny
• sex ? gender
• Postmodern critiques
• Universal essences
• Generalizations based on race, class,
  ethnicity, gender