Anthropology › Section H · Political anthropology › Topic H.2
Bands and tribes
How do people keep order with no rulers, police or written laws? Bands and lineage-based societies answer with consensus, mediation, generosity and cross-cutting ties, and studying them shows that formal government is only one way to run a community.
In this topic
- Order without offices
- Bands: consensus among foragers
- Levelling: keeping anyone from rising
- A warning about the word 'tribe'
- Lineage orders and segmentary lineages
- Worked example: who takes whose side?
- Mediators and big men
- Age sets and village democracy
- Worked example: 'ancient tribal hatred'?
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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