A Study Of The Nuer Of Southern Sudan And The American Tribes Of South America Political Power

Within any community, it is safe to say that the goal of maintaining a society that prospers on for many years is common. Establishing order is key to developing a prosperous society. Order, whether it be defined as assigning roles in society, or establishing a set of rules to maintain control, can be done through various approaches. The pondering question however lies in what is the best approach to establish order. This common question has been prominent throughout time, and has been debated in government and society. The debate in how society should establish order regularly results in contrasting opinions. In the essay "The Myth of the Ant Queen," by Steven Johnson, and in the excerpt “The Code of Hammurabi” from Society and Law in Ancient Babylonia, two distinct approaches to establishing order in society are discussed. I believe that through strict reinforcements, order in society can be established. In the essay “Man’s Nature is Evil” by Hsun Tzu, the human nature in society helps explain why strict reinforcements is the most efficient way to establish order. In Steven Johnson’s essay “The Myth of the Ant Queen,” he describes an interesting way in how the establishment of order arises. He argues that society can build itself up and maintain order without the need of a ruler or a set of laws. Through the observation of ants and how they behave in their environment, he explains how ants are able to establish an intricate yet simple

When studied, early complex civilizations naturally settled in groups and developed social hierarchies. Whatever the emerging culture, there must of course be a leader. Whether it is a warrior protecting the group from warring neighbors, forcing his way to the head of the pack, or a wise and eloquent father figure, gently guiding and imparting knowledge to his subjects, in order for a society to function there must be a leader for the people to follow. Jared Diamond claimed that the emergence of social elites and eventually kings were dependent on the establishment or sedentary cultures, according to him, “only in farming populations could a healthy, non-producing elite set itself above the disease-ridden masses?”. (Diamond, 1987)

It is no longer unusual to suggeste that the construction of the colonial order is related to the eloboration of modern forms of representation and knowledge

While Barker focuses on clans in Papua New Guinea and Hedican on Scottish clans they both come to the same result, clans are hard to gain consistent information on and much of their histories are muddled, complicated, and contradictory specifically with the whom is related to who debacle and the ‘true’ back story/ symbols accompanying each clan. Both Authors also explore the kinship terms of Papua and how it differs from the Westerner way of labelling family members (cousin being the broadest Westerner term) compared to the flexible descent groups and hazy distinction that separates immediate and extended family in the villages of Papua New

2. Matrilineal : It's a type of native american culture. The clan/villiage your mother is born, then that will be your clan/village. It means that your're following your mother's side of the family.

The kinship system is a defining feature of Aboriginal social organisation and family relationships1. This ‘kinship’ system establishes how all members of a community are related and what their position is2.It is a complex system that determines how people relate to each other, and what their roles, responsibilities and obligations in relation to one another are. It also plays an important role in ceremonies and relationships to the land. As such, the kinship system dictates who can marry who, ceremonial relationships, funeral roles and how kinfolk should behave towards one another1.

The governing legal, moral and religious codes of ancient civilizations were written and enforced by a minority that exercised power and authority over the majority. This minority consisted of priests, rulers and elites with established power and influence in society. In these codes of early civilizations, there was an overarching emphasis on maintenance of structure and order in society. Simply put, while these codes reflect the conditions, needs and values of the times in which they were formulated, they also unveil the authors’ agendas to preserve their power by maintaining the status quo. Therefore, these codes acknowledge and uphold the prevailing social, gender and racial inequalities as natural conditions of human existence and reveal the manifold biases present in early civilizations.

With powerful militaries, vast amounts of territory, and millions of people of diverse cultures and roles operating under an organized civil bureaucracy, the Han Dynasty and ancient Rome were truly empires of great power and influence in Afro-Eurasia between 300 BCE to 300 CE. While the methods of gaining the position of globalizing empires were similar for the two empires, the social obligations possessed by the people of various social classes differed for the empires, leading to contrasting perspectives towards the empires’ governments. ALTHOUGH THE HAN DYNASTY AND ANCIENT ROME WERE BOTH EMPIRES OF IMMENSE POWER, LAND, AND INFLUENCE SUSTAINED BY PEOPLE OF ALL SOCIAL CLASSES, THE SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE RULERS, SOLDIERS,

Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic

The concept of “politics” is often described casually in political science as decisions people make in order to best decide how to live with other people. This definition of politics allows for the argument that anything can be deemed political, including the clothes we wear and the language we speak. Politics is not just regarded as the study of how government works through direct participation in elections, political parties, and official government policies under this definition, but it also includes how a common nationality is forged through cultural practices and interactions with “outside” groups. Jeffrey Ostler in his book The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism uses the more inclusive definition of politics to illustrate how the Sioux

This book is written with the purpose of revealing truths about the Native American people and the horrible ways in which they are treated. These chapters compare and contrast kin-ordered societies with modern western societies. In writing about the differences of these cultures, Brodley provides insight as to why these societies inherently coexist because of capitalism’s demand of all wealth and resources to join the market system. It also begins to describe the colonial intervention of indigenous peoples, which describes and the immeasurable effects this had on kin-ordered societies. This resource will help me a lot in my knowledge of the history and traditions of kin-ordered societies. One reason this is so important for my research is because it provides a helpful guide into certain aspects of their society that many Native Americans seek to return to. The limiting factor of this resource is that it broadly describes all kin-ordered societies and does not specifically mention the Yakama people.

Modern day power originates from the mind in that we give certain figures power based upon man-made forms of value or worth like money. The definition of power has fluctuated throughout time, and while the past may have emphasized the more violent aspects, today, we have shifted towards a more control based interpretation. Both Michael Foucault and John Berger delve into the idea of power and its functionality. Based on their texts, in our current socio-cultural setting, power is best exploited when the concept behind the power is deindividualized for many purposes, internalized by the people, and integrated throughout society to the point that its origins is mystified.

Prior to colonization, the Indigenous had a unified, democratic society. Hickerson (1973) described that, until European contact, “social organization remained firmly based in kinship and clanship and that modes of production and distribution remained egalitarian” (p. 18). The Indigenous peoples engaged in hunting, trapping, and fishing activities at a subsistence level. Indigenous communities did trade useful commodities and some luxuries. However, Hickerson (1973) described that trade and production were not directed towards profit, but rather, towards satisfying the immediate well-being of community members.

One of mankind’s greatest achievements is the development and organization of diversified societies that regulate life and ethical values for those enticed within it. Societies bring interpersonal relationships that expand within a geographical region, usually populated by a collection of people sharing the same cultural, spiritual or ethical expectations. Today, we can be thankful for some of histories earliest civilizations, for they passed on diverse aspects of ethnicity into the everyday life of humanity. These ancient peoples were the building blocks for trial and error, contributing to modern day care and how we govern today’s most successful societies. Surprisingly enough, they were great educators of how societies can rise with control and authority but, even more; on how societies can weaken and crumble when negligent to the environment.

The Bantu stopped migrating during the first century CE and started to form complex government for the settled villages they already had. Stateless societies are forms of government that are not run by a hierarchy, but rather through family or kinship groups. The start of these family based government systems influenced the development of villages, districts, city-states, and small and large kingdoms. The Swahili tribe originating off of the eastern cost of Sub-Saharan Africa was a prime example of Bantu government. Being Bantu themselves, the Swahili show how the Bantu spread not only government, but also societies as a whole. Just as the Bantus' influence on developing Africa, kinship groups, or family based governing systems, started out small and eventually grew into massive kingdoms ruling and influencing entire regions. As in many other places throughout the world, kingdoms brought a need for protection from neighboring regions. The Bantu seeded the beginnings of African societies, along with starting military development and growth throughout southern Africa.