I have compiled these notes from different resources. I am hopeful that these notes will help students who are willing to grab information on this subject for civil services exams or university exams. Good Luck

1. Chapter 5| Political Organization in Anthropology Page 1 of 9
TOPIC 1 WHAT IS POLITICAL ORGANIZATION IN ANTHROPOLOGY?
 True equalitymeansholdingeveryone accountable inthe same way,regardlessof race,
gender,faith,ethnicityorpolitical ideology –MonicaCrowley
 A political organizationisanyentitythatisinvolvedinthe political process
 Political organizationincludingpolitical institution,political parties,political groups,interest
groupsetc.
 All societies have political systems thatfunction tomanage publicaffairs, maintainsocial order,
and resolve conflict. Yetthe forms
of these political systems are diverse, sometimes embedded inothersocial structures.
TOPIC 2 FOUR PRINCIPLE TYPES OF POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS
 Political organization involves issues like allocation
of political roles, levels of political integration, concentrations of
powerandauthority, mechanisms of social control andresolvingconflicts.
 Anthropologists recognize fourtypesof political organizationbasedonlevelsof political integr
ation, concentration, specialization. Political organization
isfoundwithinbands, tribes, chiefdoms, andstates. Nowadays, non-state forms
of political organization have state systems superimposed onthem
1. BANDS:
 A small group of foragers that are loosely related by marriage, blood, friendship and
interests.
 Bandsare most oftenfound inforagingsocieties andare associated withlow population de
nsities, distribution systems based on reciprocity, and egalitarian social relations.
2. TRIBES:
 Tribal organizationsare distinctpeople,dependentontheirlandfortheirlivelihood,who
are largelyself-sufficient,andnotintegratedintothe national society.
 Tribal organizations are mostcommonly foundamonghorticulturists andpastoralists (Neur
in Sudan).
 Withlarger andmore sedentary populations thanare foundin
bandsocieties, tribal organizations doalso
lack centralized political leadership andare egalitarian. Tribally basedsocieties have certain
pan-tribal mechanisms thatintegrateclanmembers toface external threats.
 Clanelders donot holdformal political officesbutusually manage affairsof theirclans(sett
lingdisputes, representingclaninnegotiation withotherclansetc.)
3. CHIEFDOMS:
 A form of hierarchical political organization in nonindustrial societies usually based on
kinshipinwhichformal leadershipismonopolizedbythelegitimate seniormembersof select
families or houses.
 Chiefdoms involve amore formal andpermanentpolitical structure thanisfound in tribal s
ocieties. Political
authority inchiefdoms restswithindividuals, whoactsalone orwithadvice of a
council. Most chiefdom tendstohave quite distinctsocial ranks, rely
on feasting and tribute as a major way of distributing goods.
 In the late nineteenth andtwentieth century, manysocieties hadchiefdoms imposedon
them by colonial powers foradministrative convenience (fore.g. Britishimpositions
inNigeria, KenyaandAustralia). The pre-colonial Hawaiianpolitical systemof the
18th century was a typical chiefdom.
4. STATES:
 An autonomous political unit, encompassing many communities within its territory and
havinga centralizedgovernmentwiththe powertocollecttaxes,draftmentowork or war,
and decree and enforce laws.

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TOPIC 3 CONFLICT THEORIES
 The conflict theory, suggested by Karl Marx, claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict
because of competition for limited resources.
 It holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and
conformity.
 According to conflict theory, those with wealth and powertry to hold on to it by any means
possible,chieflybysuppressingthe poorandpowerless.A basicpremiseof conflicttheoryisthat
individuals and groups within society will work to maximize their own benefits.
(1) KEY TAKEAWAYS:
 Conflict theory focuses on the competition between groups within society over limited
resources.
 Conflicttheoryviewssocial andeconomicinstitutionsastoolsof the strugglebetweengroupsor
classes, used to maintain inequality and the dominance of the ruling class.
 Marxist conflict theory sees society as divided along lines of economic class between the
proletarian working class and the bourgeois ruling class.
 Later versions of conflict theory look at other dimensions of conflict among capitalist factions
and between various social, religious, and other types of groups.
(2) UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT THEORY:
 The conflicttheoryhas beenusedto explainawide range of social phenomena,includingwars
and revolutions, wealth and poverty, discrimination and domestic violence.
 Itascribesmostof the fundamental developmentsinhumanhistory,suchasdemocracyandcivil
rights,to capitalisticattemptstocontrol the massesratherthanto a desire forsocial order.The
theoryrevolvesaroundconceptsof social inequalityinthe divisionof resourcesandfocuseson
the conflicts that exist between classes.
 Many types of conflicts can be describedusing conflict theory.Some theorists, including Marx,
believe that inherent societal conflict drives change and development in society.
(3) CLASS CONFLICT:
 Marx’s conflicttheoryfocusedon the conflictbetweentwoprimaryclasses.Each class consists
of a group of people bound by mutual interests and a degree of property ownership, often
supported by the state.
 The bourgeoisie represents the members of society who hold the majority of the wealthand
means.
 The proletariat includes those considered working class or poor. With the rise of capitalism,
Marx theorizedthatthe bourgeoisie,aminoritywithinthe population,woulduse theirinfluence
to oppress the proletariat, the majority class.
 Thisway of thinkingistiedtoa commonimage associatedwithconflicttheory-basedmodelsof
society;adherentstothisphilosophytendtobelieveina"pyramid"arrangementinwhichasmall
group of elites dictates terms and conditions to the larger portion of society, as a result of
outsized control over resources and power.
(4) CONFLICT THEORY ASSUMPTIONS:
 In currentconflicttheory,there are four primaryassumptionswhichare helpful tounderstand:
competition,revolution,structural inequality,andwar.
(a) COMPETITION:
 Conflict theorists believe that competition is a constant and, at times, overwhelming factor in
nearly every human relationship and interaction.
 Competition exists as a result of the scarcity of resources, including material resources like
money, property, commodities, and more. Beyond material resources, individuals and groups
within a society also compete for intangible resources as well.
 These caninclude leisuretime,dominance,social status,sexualpartners,andmanyotherfactors
as well. Conflict theorists assume that competition is the default, rather than cooperation.

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(b) REVOLUTION:
 Givenconflicttheorists'assumptionthatconflictoccursbetweensocialclasses,one outcome of
this conflict is a revolution.
 The idea is that change in a power dynamic between groups does not happen as the result of
adaptation.
 Rather, it comes about as the effect of conflict between these groups.
 In thisway,changestoa powerdynamicare oftenabruptandlarge inscale,ratherthangradual
and evolutionary.
(c) STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY:
 An importantassumptionof conflicttheoryisthathumanrelationshipsandsocial structuresall
experience inequalities of power.
 In this way, some individuals and groups inherently develop more power and reward than
others.
 Following this, those individuals and groups that benefit from a particular structure of society
tend to work to maintain those structures so as to retain and enhance their power.
(d) WAR:
 Conflicttheoriststendtosee waraseitheraunifierorasa cleanserofsocieties.Inconflicttheory,
war is the result of a cumulative and growing conflict between individuals and groups and
between whole societies.
 In the context of war, a society may become unified in some ways, but conflict still remains
between multiple societies.
 On the other hand, war may also result in the wholesale end of society.
(5) INTERNAL CONFLCIT: (LEWIS COSER)
 Internal conflictinthe largersocialsystem,asbetweendifferentgroupswithintheUnitedStates,
releaseshostilities, createsnormsfor dealingwithconflict,anddevelopslinesof authorityand
judiciary systems.
 Coser sees conflict as instinctual for humans. Thus, a society must always contend with the
psychological need of individuals to engage in conflict.
 Coserappears to argue that thisneedcan buildup overtime and become explosive.Low-level,
frequentconflicttendstorelease hostilitiesandthuskeepconflictfrombuildingandbecoming
disintegrative for the system.
 This kindof conflictalsocreates pressuresforsocietyto produce norms governingconflict.For
example,mostof the formal norms(laws) governinglaborinWesterncapitalistcountriescame
about because of the conflict between labor and management.
 We can see thissame dynamicoperatingat the dyad level aswell.Forexample,whenacouple
in a long-termrelationshipexperiencesrepeatedepisodesof conflict,suchasarguing, theywill
attemptto come upwithnormsfor handlingthe tensioninawaythatpreservesthe integrityof
the relationship.
 The same istrue for the social system, but the social systemwill go a stepfurtherand develop
formal authoritiesandsystemsof judgmenttohandle conflict.Thus,frequent,low-levelconflict
creates moral and social structures that facilitate social integration.
(6) EXTERNAL CONFLICT: (LEWIS COSER)
 The differentgroupsinvolvedinconflictalsoexperience functional results,especiallywhenthe
conflict is more violent.
 As a group experiences external conflict, the boundaries surrounding the group become
stronger, the members of the group experience greater solidarity, power is exercised more
efficiently, and the group tends to form coalitions with other groups (the more violent the
conflictis,the more intensifiedare these effects).Inorderforanygroupto exist,itmustinclude
some people and exclude others.
 Thisinclusion/exclusionprocessinvolvesproducingandregulatingdifferent behaviours,waysof
feeling and thinking, cultural symbols, and so forth. These differences constitute a group
boundary that clearly demarcates those who belong from those who do not. As a group

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experiences conflict, the boundaries surrounding the group become stronger and better
guarded.
 For example,duringWWIIthe UnitedStatesincarceratedthose Americansof Japanese descent.
Today we may lookback at that incidentwithshame,butat the time it made the UnitedStates
stronger as a collective; it more clearly demarcated “us” from “them,” which is a necessary
function for any group to exist.
 Conflict makes this function more robust: “conflict sets boundaries between groups within a
social system by strengthening group consciousness and awareness of separateness, thus
establishing the identity of groups within the system” (Coser, 1956, p. 34).
 Along with stronger external boundaries, conflict enables the group to also experience higher
levels of internal solidarity.
 Whena group engagesinconflict,the memberswill tendtofeel agreatersense of camaraderie
thanduringpeacefultimes.Theywillseethemselvesasmore alike,morepartof the samefamily,
existing for the same reason.
 Group-specific behaviours and symbols will be more closely guarded and celebrated. Group
rituals will be engaged in more often and with greater fervency, thus producing greater
emotional tiesbetweenmembersandcreatinga sense of sacrednessaboutthe group. Conflict
and Critical Theories——219 07-Allan
 In addition, a group experiencing conflict will tend to produce a more centralized power
structure. A centralized government is more efficient in terms of response time to danger,
regulating internal stresses and needs, negotiating external relations, and so on.
 Violentconflictalsotendstoproduce coalitionswithpreviouslyneutralparties.Again,WWIIisa
clearexample.The storyof WWIIisone of increasingviolence withmore andmore partiesbeing
drawn in.
 Violentconflictproducesalliancesthatwouldhavepreviouslybeenthoughtunlikely,such asthe
United States being allied with Russia. Coalition . . . permits the coming together of elements
that...would resist other forms of unification. Although it is the most unstable form of
socialization,ithasthe distinctadvantageof providingsomeunificationwhereunificationmight
otherwise not be possible. (Coser, 1956, p. 143)
TOPIC 4 ORIGINS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
 The earliest civilizations on earth were found in such diverse settings as Mesopotamia, Egypt,
the Indus Valley of Pakistan, China, Mexico and Central America, and Andean South America.
These civilizations had huge cities’ powerful rulers, fascinating religious beliefs, and elaborate
temples and palaces.
 Inthiscourse,we will studythe archaeologyof the originsof these ancientcivilizationsbeginning
with the end of the Ice Age about 10,000 years ago.
 We examine the lives of the ancient people of these civilizations through the study of their
archaeological sites, artefacts, art, architecture, and writing.
 We explore some of the amazingdiscoveriesfromthese earlystates:the Pyramidof the Sunat
the ancientMexicancity of Teotihuacan,the tombof the Maya rulerPacal,the wallsof Jericho,
the Royal Cemetery at Ur, the Pyramids of Giza, and the great roadways of the Inca Empire.
(1) THE INGREDIENTS OF CIVILIZATION:
 Many differentelementsmustcome togetherbefore ahumancommunitydevelopstothe level
of sophistication commonly referred to as civilization.
 The first is the existence of settlements classifiable as towns or cities. This requires food
productionto be efficientenoughforalarge minorityof the communitytobe engagedinmore
specializedactivities - such as the creationof imposingbuildingsorworksof art, the practice of
skilledwarfare,andaboveall the administrationof acentralizedbureaucracycapableof running
the machinery of state.
 Civilization requires at least a rudimentary civil service.
 In the organization of a civil service, a system of writing is an almost indispensable aid. This is
not invariably the case because at least one civilization, that of the Incas in Peru, will thrive

5. Chapter 5| Political Organization in Anthropology Page 5 of 9
withoutwriting.Butthe developmentof writinggreatlyenhancescivilization.Andwitha script
comes history.
 Our knowledge of prehistory derives from surviving objects - the evidence of archaeology.
History,by contrast,is basedon documents.These variousinterconnectionsmeanthathistory,
civilization and writing all begin at the same time. That time is about 3100 BC.
(a) MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT: 3100 BC
 In about3200 BC the two earliestcivilizationsdevelopinthe regionwhere southwestAsiajoins
northeastAfrica.Greatriversare a crucial part of the story.The Sumerians settleinwhatisnow
southernIraq, betweenthe mouthsof the Euphratesand the Tigris. Egypt developsinthe long
narrow strip of the Nile valley.
 Riversoffertwomainadvantagestoa developingcivilization.Theyprovide watertoirrigate the
fields,andtheyofferthe easiestmethodof transport for a societywithoutpavedroads.Rivers
will play an equally important role in two other early civilizations - those of the Indus and of
northern China.
(b) THE INDUS: 2500 BC (Check Archaeological Sites in Pakistan in Chapter 1)
 It is not known whether contact with Mesopotamia inspires the first civilization of India or
whetheritisaspontaneouslocaldevelopment,butbyabout2500 BCthe Neolithicvillagesalong
the banksof the Indusare on the verge of combining into a unified and sophisticated culture.
 The Indus civilization, with its two large cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, expands over a
largerregionthan Egyptand Mesopotamiacombined.Itwill survive,inaremarkablyconsistent
form, for about 1000 years.
(c) The Aegean:2000 BC
 The next region to develop a distinctive civilization centres on the Aegean Sea. The bays and
inlets of the rugged coastal regions of Greece, and the many small islands strung like pearls
across this relatively sheltered sea, combine to make this an ideal area for trade (and piracy)
among people whose levels of nautical skill make short hops a necessary precaution.
 The Aegeancivilization standsat the start of the verylivelytraditionof Mediterraneanculture.
Itbeginsinthe large islandwhichisperfectlyplacedtoguardthe entrance tothe Aegean - Crete.
(d) CHINA: 1600 BC
 The longest consistent civilization in the human story so far is that of China. This vast eastern
empire seemssetapartfromthe rest of the world,fiercelyproudof itsowntraditions,resisting
foreign influences. Its history begins in a characteristically independent manner.
 There are no identifiable precedentsforthe civilizationof the Shangdynasty,whichemergesin
China in about 1600 BC. Its superb bronze vessels seem to achieve an instant technological
perfection.Itswrittentextsintroduce charactersrecognizablyrelatedtoChinese writingtoday.
This is a civilization which begins as it will continue - with confidence.
(e) America: 1200 BC
 Around this time the earliest American civilizations have their beginnings, with the Olmecs
in central America and the Chavin in the Andes.
 Both these cultures develop large towns, centred on temples. Both are now famous for their
sculpture. And each, in its own region, is at the start of a succession of civilizations leading
directlytothe two whichare discoveredanddestroyedinthe 16th centuryby the Spanish - the
Aztecs in central America and the Incas in the Andes.
(f) THE MEDITERRANEAN: FROM 1000 BC
 The firstdistinctivelyMediterraneancivilization, thatof the Aegeans,comestoasuddenandstill
unexplained end in around 1200 BC. Some 200 years later an energetic seafaring people,
the Phoenicians,become extensive traders.Fromtheirbase in Lebanontheyestablishcolonies
along the coast of Africa and even into the Atlantic.
 Their example, as Mediterranean imperialists, will be followed by the Greeks and then by
the Romans. The Mediterranean becomes the world's most creative arena for the clash and
synthesis of civilizations - a status which it has never entirely lost.

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(g) REGIONAL CIVILIZATIONS: AD 400 – 1500
 With the dominance of Greece and Rome in the west (both successfully managing a transition
from pagan to Christian empires), of Chinain the east, and of strongly individual cultures in
central and south America, each successive civilization in any region tends at this time to be a
variationonlocal traditions.Butsometimesthere are upheavalswhichintroduceanentirelynew
culture within already long-civilized parts of the world.
 One such is Islam. The establishment of the caliphate in Damascus and then Baghdad leads to
distinctively Muslim civilizations in an unbroken belt from North Africa to north India.
(h) GLOBAL CIVILIZATION: 16TH - 20TH CENTURY
 The firstsustainedcontactbetweenEurope andAmerica,inthe 16thcentury,opensthe doorto
a new concept - world-wide civilizations, evolving through colonies and empires. Spanish
civilizationisexportedto LatinAmerica.Englishculturespreadsevenfurther,inanempirewhich
includes India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and eventually many parts of Africa.
 From the 16th to the 19th century it isthis imperial impulse whichcarriesEuropeancivilization
roundthe world,oftenasathinveneeroverolderandveryrobustlocal cultures.But bythe 20th
century there are different forces at work.
 For much of the 20th century ideology has been the driving force in the export of two very
different concepts of civilization, American capitalismand Russian Communism. At the same
time mass communicationhasmade it possible toexporta region'spopularculture to the rest
of the world - notably that of America through radio, cinema and television.
 Other influences, whether multinational companies or the internet, have a similar effect. The
dangeris of aworldwidesameness.Butthereisacorrespondingbenefit.Withineconomiclimits,
human communities are now free as never before to adopt the aspects of civilization which
appeal to them - regardless of where they happen to be on the planet.
TOPIC 5 THE POLITIC OF IDENTITY
 Identity is perhaps one of the most widely used words in today's world. In both everyday
discourse andin social science analysesanddebates,there seemstobe no end to the contexts
inwhichitpopsup,andthe usestowhichit isput.Incommon-sense,everydayspeechthe notion
of identity is used in connection with all of the following:
1. Personal individuality:Thisisthe worldof the psychotherapies,philosophiesof personal
growth, and so on. With an emphasis on selfhood, self-actualisation and freedom, and
authenticity, these discourses are at least as likely to be found in the pages of popular
magazines as the consulting rooms of professionals.
2. Life-style: Here we are still in the same territory, albeit somewhat more widely defined,
covering everything from 'subculture' to sexual preference, and encompassing the
collective as well as the individual. Among the most important social arenas for the
expression and construction of life-styles, one can point to advertising and consumption
(or,indeed,theirrejection),andindividual orcollective affiliationtovarious'alternatives'
to the perceived cultural mainstream.
3. Social position and status: The complex societies of the industrialised world - and at the
beginning of the third Christian millennium that should probably be taken to mean the
entire globe - are neither undifferentiated nor egalitarian. They are systematically and
hierarchically structured in terms of social identifications such as gender, age, class,
religion, marital status, disability, culture and ethnicity, and so on. While these serve to
differentiate people, individually and collectively, they also offer provide bases for the
organisation of collective mobilisation and action.
4. Politics: Aproposcollective organisation,intermsof votingbehaviourandotherformsof
political action,somethinghasemergedknownas'identitypolitics'.Thisispre-eminently
the terrain of the new social movements - particularly single-issue movements, such as
those promoting women's rights, gay rights, ethnic civil rights, and so on - but it has also
filtered through into the strategies of more established political parties, not least in the
attempt, typically on the left, to form so-called 'rainbow coalitions'.
5. Bureaucracy and citizenship: Passports, identity cards, and other forms of personal
registration,are anestablishedpart - albeittodifferingdegreesfromcountrytocountry -

7. Chapter 5| Political Organization in Anthropology Page 7 of 9
of the everyday life of the citizens and inhabitants of all industrialised states. They are
bound up with nationality, freedom of movement, citizenship rights, taxation, financial
and other economic services, welfare benefits, routine population monitoring,individual
surveillance,criminality,andso on. There is hardlyany aspectof everydaylife thatis not
in some sense touched by the bureaucratisation of identity.
TOPIC 6 THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ETHNICITY
 The general model of social identity outlined immediately above draws, among other sources, on
the anthropological literature dealing with ethnicity.
 For the purposes of this discussion, ethnicity is taken to include national identity, and a range of
other communal or local identifications.
 It isa subjectwhichsocial anthropology,perhapsmore thananyotherdiscipline,hasmade itsown.
Drawingitsultimate inspirationperhapsfromMax Weber,theanthropological approachtoethnicity
is based on the seminal contribution of Fredrik Barth and his collaborators, in Ethnic Groups and
Boundaries (Barth, 1969), and subsequent contributions made by writers such as Cohen (1985),
Eriksen (1993), Geertz (1973: 255-310), and Jenkins (1997). There is a basic, consensual
anthropological model of ethnicity, comprising four basic propositions:
 Allowingfor the remarks above, about the necessaryrelation of similarity and difference in all
processesof social identification,ethnicityis,inthe firstinstance,aboutcollectiveidentification
based in perceived cultural differentiation;
 Ethnicity is concerned with culture (sharedmeanings) but it is rooted in - and the product of -
social interaction, especially across boundaries;
 Ethnicity is neither fixed nor static, any more than the culture of which it is an aspect, or the
situations in which boundaries are produced and reproduced, are fixed and static.
 Ethnicity is both collective and individual, externalised in institutions and patterns of social
interaction and internalised in personal self-identification.
(1) ETHNICITY IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD: TWO BRIEF CASES
 In order to illustrate some of the theoretical pointsthatI have beenmakingso far, some empirical
substance is called for at this point.
 The twobrief case studieswhichfolloware drawnfrommyownresearch(see Jenkins 1997: 90-163;
2000) and are necessarily condensed
(a) NORTHERN IRISH PROTESTANTS:
 For my purposeshere,the firstthree hundredormore yearsof the 'NorthernIrishproblem'can be
crudely summarised.
 Facedwiththe continuedrefusalof the GaelicCatholicnorthernprovince of IrelandtoacceptEnglish
rule,the governmentinLondonattemptedtosolvethe problem,inthe late16thand17th centuries,
by forcibly dispossessing the native Irish of their land and 'planting' in their stead loyal English and
Scottish protestants.
 'Ethnic cleansing' and population replacement (although only to a point: many of the Catholics,
needed as labour, stayed on in relative or absolute poverty).
 The PlantationcreatedtwomutuallyhostileethnicitiesinUlster,ProtestantandCatholic,the former
economically and politically dominating the latter.
(b) DENMARK AND THE EUROPEAN UNION:
 Lying- geographicallyandculturally - somewherebetweenScandinaviaandGermany,Denmarkhas,
as a consequence of Nordic wars, the diplomatic mistake of siding with Napoleon (culminating in
national bankruptcy in 1813), and conflicts with Prussia, contracted dramatically since the 17th
century.
 From a northern empire encompassing Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Greenland, and German
dukedoms, it has shrunk to become the small state that we know today. An absolutist monarchy
until 1849, subsequent modernisationand reform proceeded on the basis of an essentially rural
popular movement based on principles of co-operation, self-help and education, and the gradual
(and sometimes conflictual) development of social democracy.
 Denmarkwasnotamongthe pioneermembersof the EuropeanCommunity.AftertheSecondWorld
War, and some international awkwardness about its government's stance towards occupation by

8. Chapter 5| Political Organization in Anthropology Page 8 of 9
Germany, its closest economic links were across the North Sea to the UK, with the other Nordic
countries, and south to Germany. Politically,the Nordic arena, the home of social democracy, was
the focusfor muchof thisperiod.Thiswasthe periodwhenthe 'Scandinavianmodel'of the welfare
state, as it has been called, was developed.
TOPIC 7 NATIONALISM
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states the following:
The term “nationalism” is generally used to describe two phenomena:
(1) The attitude thatthe membersof anationhave whentheycare abouttheirnational identity,and(2)
The actionsthat the membersof a nationtake whenseekingtoachieve (orsustain) self-determination.
 In her book 5 Ideas That Change the World*,Barbara Ward lists five common traits that a national
group must have in common in order to reach a true state of nationalism.
 Her traits are debated greatly, but they are good general starting point of lookingat what makes a
group of people a nation.She says that for any group of people tobe considereda nationand find
the pride of a nationalistic view, they must have the following in common:
1. Geography (though Irish, Jewish, and African diasporas are proving to be an exception)
2. History
3. Culture
4. Language (though emerging dialects, accents, and globalization and the death of hundreds of
languageswhile English-usage growshaslinguistsupin arms about the necessityof a common
language)
5. Enemy (because nothing brings people together like misery and hatred.
 Plenty of reasons have been spouted about the sudden resurgence of nationalism in “1st world
democracies.”The one Ifoundthe mostconvincing wasthatthe workingclass,intheirfearof terror
they hear from politicians in the news, coupled with their ignorance as it is, have seen the world
become more globalized, and in watching this, have not seen any profit from it. While they see
neighboursrise outof povertyduetoglobalization,theythemselveshave fallenonahard economy.
Theirresourcesare tapped,andtheyfeel that those guysoverthere have takenfromthem,sotheir
response,asit wouldhave beenthousandsof yearsago,is to rallythe troops, to close the gates,to
re-establish friend from enemy, and to protect what is theirs.
 We are seeing this rise of nationalism all over the world.
 From Polish, Islamophobic, nationalist riots
TOPIC 8 MODERNISM VS. POSTMODERNISM
Modernism (or Enlightenment Humanism) Postmodernism
Reason and science provide accurate, objective,
reliable foundation of “knowledge”
Reason and science are Ideologies in the
Nietzschean or Marxist sense: simply myths
created by man.
Reason transcends and exists independently of
our existential, historical, cultural contexts; it is
universal and “true”.
There is no universal,objective meansof judging
any given concept as “true”; ALL judgments of
truth exist within a cultural context (cultural
relativism).

9. Chapter 5| Political Organization in Anthropology Page 9 of 9
Reason and human independence/freedom are
inherently linked; just laws conform to the
dictates of Reason. We hold these truths to be
self-evident…
The application of pure Reason (predicated
Cartesian Radical Skepticism) disproves the
universal nature of a priori human freedom.
Independence/Freedom are Western Ideologies
(just like reason and science) used to colonize
foreigncultures(ieBelgianCongo,VietNam,Iraq,
and Afghanistan) or subjugate women.
Because it is universal, Reason can help us
overcome all conflicts.
Nope. Science is no more universal than is any
other culture’s definition of “truth”.
Science is the paradigm of all true knowledge. Nope.
Language is transparent; a one to one
relationship between signifier (word) and
signified (thing or concept).
Language is fluid and arbitrary and/or rooted in
Power/Knowledgerelations.Meaningisfluidand
arbitrary. Meaning is “messy”.
Reason will lead to universal truths all cultures
will embrace.
“…no eternal truths, no universal human
experience,nouniversal humanrights,overriding
narrative of human progress” (Faigley, 8).
In sum: Truth exists independent of human
consciousness and can be known thru the
application of Reason.
All Enlightenment conclusions lead from this
assumption.
In sum: Truth may exist independent of human
consciousnessbutthere isno objective meansof
nailing it down.
All Postmodern conclusions lead from this
assumption.
Connotations:The applicationof Reasonleadsto
a progressive movement toward civilization,
democracy, freedom, scientific advancement.
The Enlightenment is prescriptive: a means of
building a better society.
Connotations: There isno objective meansupon
which to predicate morality and right/just
governance.
Postmodern theory isdescriptive of the human
condition; it describes an impasse in philosophy
and social relations.
Modernist Feminism: Women are oppressed by
patriarchy and can use Reason to achieve both
independenceandregain their “authentic
selves”.
Postmodern Feminism: The categories
male/female,masculine/feminineare themselves
culturally constructed and/or Ideology. Gender
roles are culturally relative in all cultures and
contexts.
Existence of stable,coherent“self”,independent
of culture and society.
The “self” is a myth and largely a composite of
one’s social experiences and cultural contexts.
The "self" is an Ideology.