Comparison of the Tribal and Chiefdom Societies - Essay Example

A Comparison of the Tribal and Chiefdom Societies in Relation to Technology and Economy There are several differences between chiefdom and tribal societies. First, the tribal societies have shamans as religious leaders while chiefdom has both the priest and shaman as their religious leaders. Secondly, in both societies, religious beliefs are believed to determine their ideological patterns. In addition, tribal society segmentation also has a role to play in ideological pattern determination. Thirdly, division of labour is not developed in tribal societies compared to chiefdoms. This could be because the chiefdom has a larger population, and because they use advanced agricultural techniques than the tribal society. Fourth, the social stratification method is based on prestige and power possessed in tribal and chiefdom societies respectively. Fifth, tribal societies do not have an authoritative political organization while the chiefdom does. They only have pan-tribal associations made up of elders who serve to unite the community. The chief is the authority in the chiefdom, and depending on its size the chiefdom can be run by an overall chief and other smaller chiefs responsible for different regions. The sixth comparison is based on kinship; tribal segments and ranking or societal status is used in tribal and chiefdom societies respectively. Lastly, with regard to gender in both societies the males dominate over the females. A Comparison of the Tribal and Chiefdom Societies in Relation to Technology and Economy Generally, societies put in place social control mechanisms to maintain order. Tribal and chiefdom societies differ in the degree and levels of political integration, how much they concentrate authority into political roles and how they differentiate political institutions from kinship, religious and economic structures. Furthermore, societies are differentiated on the basis of their level of economy, technology and communication. Based on these factors societies can be divided into four different types; the band, tribal, chiefdom and state societies. These four types of societies are hunters and gatherers, simple agriculturalists, advanced agriculturalists and industrialists respectively (Peoples and Bailey, 2011). This paper focuses on comparing tribal and chiefdom societies. This comparison relates to their technology and economy: division of labour, social stratification, political organization, kinship, gender relations, religious organizations and ideology. Though tribal societys main classification is horticulturalists or unsophisticated agriculturalists, some engage in pastoralist activities, hunting or gathering. Horticulture is like a simpler form of agriculture where people plant, weed, harvest and store food. The system does not apply complex technologies like crop rotation, soil fertilization or plowing nor do they apply the factors of production i.e. land, labour, capital and machinery. In fact, they prefer to use basic hand tools like hoes and digging sticks which demand a lot of energy in their use. The land tilled is small, thus they can afford to use such basic tools and basic irrigation techniques, which can be done by the family members. Tribal societies engaging in pastoralist activities own animals. This is a common practice for societies that live in non-cultivatable land, for example, deserts, arid and grasslands. It is a common belief that when farming societies expand, some have to move out to such areas that do not support farming thus they have to adopt domestication of animals. Hunting and gathering societies also result from adaptation to the environment by a group of people. These groups are found in areas that are sufficiently productive, and there is an abundance of food enabling them to cater for a large population of people. Chiefdom society, on the other hand, is intermediate of tribal and state societies. They consist of greater populations and use advanced technologies than tribal societies (Landstreet, 2006). Discussion The following is a discussion on the similarities and differences between the chiefdom and the tribal societies in different perspectives. First, in respect to the religious organization, the tribal society is led by a shaman while the chiefdom society makes use of both the priest and the shaman. The shaman is a part-time religious leader who offers both psychological and medical support to the people. Their main feature is ability to achieve a trance state where they can communicate with spirits. They harbor visions that other people would not, and would control their occurrence, and how long they last. On the other hand, they have knowledge of using plants and herbs for curative and ritual purposes. Priests in the chiefdom society are full-time specialized religious leaders who conduct public ceremonies, unlike the private ones conducted by the shamans. Priests are hereditary religious leaders while chiefs are the political leaders. However, in some cases the chief has both leadership and priesthood roles. This can be described as a state of fusion or an undifferentiated state since the religious and political roles are performed by the same person (Landstreet, 2006). Secondly, based on ideologies, both the societies’ ideological patterns are determined by their religious beliefs. In addition, the tribal society organization also determines the ideological patterns. In chiefdom society, people believe that God has concerns regarding the morality of humans, unlike in tribal societies (Ferraro and Andreatta, 2009). Thirdly, division of labour is much developed in chiefdom than in tribal societies. This is mainly because chiefdom engages in more complex agricultural practices than the tribal society. In addition, the population in chiefdom is larger than that in tribal society making division of labour essential. Therefore, division of labour in chiefdom society is divided into regional and individual specialization. In regional specialization, different villages specialize in different activities, for example, fishing, farming or hunting and gathering. It also involves individual specialization since individuals make up the villages. However, in individual specialization, different individuals specialize in different activities, for instance, hunting and mining among many others. This results in work specialization since the work is done by skilled individuals. Production from the society is taken to the chief who redistributes it during feasts. This ensures that the whole society benefits from goods produced in other regions (Landstreet, 2006). Fourth is the comparison based on social stratification, and in this case dimensions of social stratification are; wealth based economic status (individuals’ assets), power based political status (ability to execute an individual needs over others) and prestige based social status (qualities deemed acceptable). Chiefdom integrates several political community units in a formal and permanent manner. On the other hand, tribal society has grouping systems that can integrate informally more than one community. Tribal societies are segmented into tribe, non-kinship, sodalities, moieties, clans, villages, lineages and families from top to bottom. This stratification method is based on prestige. The chiefdoms are markedly stratified into status groups in relation to power possessed. These groups are ranked using two systems: the system based on kinship descent (continuous ranking system) and those based on heredity (status group system). The former is simpler, and it has a central decision making system that enables it to mobilize power and exploit resources than tribal societies. In the heredity system, the chiefdom has greater authority. This divides the society into nobles and the simpletons (Landstreet, 2006). Fifth is the comparison in relation to the political organization in the society. Societies differ in three political dimensions: how they distinguish political institutions from other social structure aspects, the extent of authority concentration in political roles and the political integration level. Chiefdom has central government to command and ensure compliance while tribal society does not (Landstreet, 2006). They (tribal societies) have a shifting political structure which is shown by its segmented system of lineage. However, there are permanent political fixtures called pan-tribal associations also called sodalities which unite the tribe segments. These are groups of elders, religious sects, councils, warrior or secret societies. Leadership is only for specific purposes since the political offices have no authority. Regardless of the purpose, these groups create order and unity in the tribe. Decision making is considered to be a public role and a leader is only sorted for advice (Gluckman, 2006). This is different from the chiefdom where the chief is the top most authority. The chiefdom is a full-time occupation, with the decisions made by the chiefs being backed up by the authority. The chiefs reserve the right to use both force and coercion in their political endeavors. Depending on its size, the chiefdom can be run by more than one chief. There can be an overall chief in charge of the whole chiefdom and others at lower ranks who run the subdivisions. The chief’s role used to be hereditary unlike leaders in tribal societies. There is also a behavior code when addressing the chief, for instance, one is not allowed to look the chief in the eye as a sign of respect. Warfare and slavery frequency is seen to be more rampant in chiefdom societies. This is sparked by settlement of populations in a common land that has economic surpluses (Landstreet, 2006). The sixth comparison is based on kinship whereby chiefdom is made up of several parts that differ in their relation, structure and function while tribal societies are made up of several segments that all root from the main tribe. Tracing of one’s descent in chiefdom is done in relation to one’s rank or status in the society. It is the mechanism used to differentiate and distribute prestige in the society. This implies that individuals in some lineages are placed higher in the social status, and others placed lower. On the other hand, segmentation of tribal societies causes nesting as moieties nest in the tribes, clans in moieties, lineages in clans, and families in lineages. Therefore, each person belongs to each group at each level, except for sodalities where children and some adults are not part of them. In general, all the groups in all levels form the tribe, except for sodalities (Gluckman, 2006). Lastly will be the comparisons based on gender relations that are similar in both societies. These relations are patriarchal, and both are dominated by senior males i.e. gerontocracy. Women have less prestige and political power than men. Individual roles were previously categorized into male and female roles, but currently this has changed to categorizations according to the work specialization, for example, Hunter, jeweler etc; these work roles are passed down the family members for generations (Landstreet, 2006). Conclusion The differences and similarities between tribal and chiefdom societies can be summarized as follows. First, the tribal societies have shamans as religious leaders while the chiefdom has both the priest and shaman as their religious leaders. The shaman offers both psychological and medical support although in private. They also have the ability to communicate with spirits through visions that they can control. The priesthood is a full-time profession that is permanent and hereditary. Some chiefs are also priests thus they offer both spiritual and political leadership. Secondly, in both societies, religious beliefs are believed to determine their ideological patterns. In addition, tribal society segmentation also has a role to play in ideological pattern determination. Thirdly, division of labour is not developed in tribal societies as compared to chiefdoms. This could be because chiefdoms have larger populations, and because they use advanced agricultural techniques than the tribal societies. Fourth, the social stratification method is based on prestige and power possessed in tribal and chiefdom societies respectively. The method used in chiefdom societies can be further categorized into kinship and heredity systems where both divide the population into novelties and simpletons. Fifth, tribal societies do not have an authoritative political organization while the chiefdom does. They only have pan-tribal associations made up of elders who serve to unite the community. The chief is the authority in the chiefdom, depending on its size the chiefdom can be run by an overall chief and other smaller chiefs responsible for different regions. The sixth comparison is based on kinship; tribal segments and ranking or societal status is used in tribal and chiefdom societies respectively. Lastly, with regard to gender in both societies the male dominate over the females. Women have less prestige and political power than men. Assignment of roles was also previously gender based, but currently this has changed to assignment by work specialization. References Ferraro, G. P., & Andreatta, S. (2009). Cultural anthropology: An applied perspective. Cengage Learning. Gluckman, M. (2006). Politics, law and ritual in tribal society. Transaction Publishers. Landstreet, P. (2006). A world of sociology. Peter Landstreet. Peoples, J., & Bailey, G. (2011). Humanity: An introduction to cultural anthropology. Cengage Learning. Read More