Band and village societies rely on mechanisms like reciprocity, public opinion, headmen, and mediators to maintain law and order due to their small size and egalitarian structure, rather than formal political institutions. These societies are organized around subsistence economies and domestic groups rather than surpluses and political control over resources. Non-kin groups like sodalities also help reinforce social bonds and resolve disputes beyond the household level.

1. Law, Order, and War
In
Non-State Societies

2. Law and Order in
Band and Village
Societies
 Hunter/Gatherer Societies
 Enjoy high degree of personal
security without having any rulers The Subsistence Economy vs.
or law-and-order specialists
the Political Economy
The reason for these differences is that
band and village societies are
primarily embedded in the
Subsistence Economy and have the
following characteristics:

3. The centrality of domestic group and kinship relations means that
reciprocity can be the chief mode of exchange and that members of the
domestic group have personal incentives to uphold collective interests.

 Communities are small in  Egalitarian Society: lacks
size formalized differentiation in
 Domestic groups and access to and power over
kinships are central
importance basic resources among its
 There is relative equity in members
access to resources and  Small size means that
technology everyone knows everyone
 Each household is similar else personally
and self-sufficient
 Households produce all  Stingy, aggressive and
their needs by means of disruptive behavior can be
division of labor by age and exposed to the pressures of
sex public opinion

4.  Subsistence Economy:
“Theoretically, no surplus is
produced beyond a security
margin – what may be needed if
things turn bad. The overriding
goal is to fulfill the household’s
needs at the lowest cost that Political Economy:
affords security.” regulates the flow of goods in
 Subsistence Economy: essentially large multifamily settings and
the household economy is supports existing power
organized at the level to meet basic relationships
needs, such as food, clothing,  As territories become more
housing, defense, and technology. crowded, there is constant
 Consistent with evolutionary potential for competition over
resources
change, the feedback between
population growth and  An economy geared toward
intensification and
technological development results
maximization of production
in the growth of the subsistence requires greater managerial
economy through intensification. oversight and leadership

5. Primitive Communism

 Among small band and village societies, all adults usually have access
to the rivers, lakes, beaches, and oceans; to all the plants and animals;
and to the soil and the subsoil. **these are basic to the extraction of
life-sustaining energy and materials, they are communal property**
 !Kung San – waterholes and hunting-and-gathering territories are said to
be “owned” by the residential core of particular bands
 Neighbors who ask for permission to exploit particular resources are seldom
refused
 Even people who come from distant bands and who lack close kin ties with the
hosts are usually given permission to stay, especially for short periods, because
all parties understand that the hosts may return the visit at some future date
 Everyone among the !Kung San is recognized as entitled to the necessities of life
by right of being a member of society

6. Primitive
Communism?
Contd.

 The chance is remote that theft or
 Among those things considered to
misappropriation of such objects will
be “private property” are: lead to serious conflict. Why?
 Weapons  Accumulation of material possessions is
 Clothing rigidly limited
 Most utilitarian items may be borrowed
 Containers without difficulty when the owner is not
 Ornaments using them
 Easy access to the raw materials and
 Tools mastery of the requisite skills provide the
 Other personal effects should not have-nots with the chance of making their
be taken away or used without own
permission by the “owner”  Among societies having no more than a
few hundred people, thieves cannot be
anonymous
 If stealing becomes habitual, a coalition of
injured parties will eventually take action
 Band level societies have no regular
market at which such items can be
exchanged for food

7. Mobilizing Public Opinion

When disputes occur in small egalitarian Shamans and Public Opinion
societies, the disputants rely on the
backing of their kin groups for support.  In small, egalitarian societies,
shamans play an important role
 In the absence of law-and-order in mobilizing public opinion and
institutions, people seek the in eliminating persistent sources
support of kin as they press their of conflict.
claims against other members of
the community  Shamans: are part-time
practitioners of magico-religious
 Public opinion influences the rights of divination and curing,
support disputants can expect skilled in slight of hand, and the
from their kin techniques of trance and
 Often what matters is not who is possessions
right or wrong; the important  Most cultures reject the idea that
thing is to mobilize public misfortune results from natural
opinion on one side or the other causes
decisively enough to prevent the  It is usually the cause of witchcraft
outbreak of large-scale feuding  It is the shaman’s job to find out the
culprit, using divination or
clairvoyance

8. Headmanship

 To the extent that political leadership can be said to exist at all
among small societies, it is exercised by “headmen” or, less
commonly, “headwomen”
 A Headman: unlike such a specialist as a king, president, or
dictator, is a relatively powerless figure, incapable of compelling
obedience
 When a headman gives a command, he is never certain of being
able to punish physically those who disobey
 If he wants to remain in “office”, he gives few direct commands.
 Political Power of:
 Genuine rulers: depends on their ability to expel or exterminate any
readily foreseeable combination of nonconforming individuals and
groups
 Genuine rulers: control access to basic resources and to the tools and
weapons for hurting or killing people, whereas a Headman has an
achieved status that requires him to lead by example and persuasion

9. Headmanship, cont’d.

 Achieved Status: is acquired through talents, efforts, and
accomplishments, rather than ascription
 There are no mechanisms for forcing people in band and
village societies to do what they do not want to do
because they can simply move to another location
 The headman must set an example not only for hard work
but also for generosity
 The headman motivates individuals to avoid conflict and
restrain violence
 Without political authority to enforce rules against
violence, the headman must rely on interpersonal skills to
motivate people to avoid confrontations

10.  Mechanisms for preventing a
homicide from flaring into a
protracted feud include the
transfer of substantial
amounts of prized  The Leopard Skin Chief:
is an outside mediator,
possessions from the slayer’s believed to have
kin group to the victim’s kin supernatural powers,
group who is called on to
 This practice is especially resolve disputes between
kin groups and prevent
common and effective the escalation of
among pastoral peoples, hostilities
whose animals are a
concentrated form of  The Leopard Skin Chief is
material wealth and for the only one who can
whom bride price is a ritually cleanse a
regular aspect of kin group murderer
exogamy

11. Non-kin Associations: Sodalities

 Sodalities: are non-  A common form of
kinship based groups sodality is the exclusive
men’s or women’s club
that span several
 These usually involve
villages and serve men or women who
widely different partake in public or sectet
functions, include: performances that
reinforce regional
 economic solidarity through ritual
 military  Age-grade associations,
 religious or age-sets, are another
common form of
 recreational solidality

12. Warfare among
Hunter and Gatherers

War: is armed combat between groups of people who constitute separate
territorial teams or political communities