Anthropology All U Need To Know

WOMEN'S UNIVERISTY IN AFRICA
Addressing gender disparity and fostering equity in University Education
BSc. (Honours) Sociology

& Gender Studies
CULTURAL ANTHR
CULTURAL OPOL
ANTHROPOL OGY I & II
OPOLOGY
Module SS121
Published by: Women's University in Africa
Education Service Centre
Mount Pleasant
Year: 2010
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Funded by: The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)

Authors:
Unit 1 -6 M.K. Chiweshe
M.Sc. Sociology (University of Zimbabwe)
B.Sc. Sociology (University of Zimbabwe)
Units 7, 8,
9 & 11 Dr
Dr.. D .S
.S.. Ching
D.S Chingar ar ande
arande
PhD. Sociology, University of Zimbabwe
M.Sc. Sociology and Social Anthropology, University of Zimbabwe
B.Sc. Sociology, University of Zimbabwe
Diploma in Christian Leadership and Biblical Studies
Certificate in Peace Research, Addis Ababa
Certificate in Social Research Methods
Certificate in Alternative Research Methodologies, Philippines
Unit 10 N. Muparamoto
M.Sc. Sociology (University of Zimbabwe)
B.Sc. Sociology (University of Zimbabwe)
Content
R e vie
vieww er : M. Guduza
B.Sc . Sociology, University of Zimbabwe
M.Sc. Sociology, University of Zimbabwe
Editor : Phoebe Kashora

M.Ed. (University of Zimbabwe)
Lecturer: Women’s University in Africa
Faculty of Social Sciences and Gender Development Studies
FOREWORD TO THE STUDENT
The Women's University in Africa, from its inception, planned to adopt a dual mode
of learning delivery in order to adequately realize its mission of reducing gender
disparity by providing gender sensitive and socially responsive educational training
and research using state of the art technology in Africa. The university believes that
through Open and Distance Learning (ODL), it will extend its influence to the South-
ern African region in particular and the continent of Africa in general, as it seeks to
be the best African University in the promotion of gender equity and equal opportu-
nities in tertiary education.
In developing a strategy for increasing opportunities for accessing tertiary educa-

tion, the Women's University in Africa (WUA) has committed resources to creating
a new learning environment that incorporates the learning delivery strategy of open
and distance learning.
The Women's University in Africa's vision for Open and Distance Learning is pre-
mised on the need to engage a dual mode of learning delivery because of its Pan
African thrust of providing education. Duality entails that the University is an insti-
tution that offers learning opportunities in two modes: - traditional lecture based
methods and distance methods and where the same courses may be offered in both
modes, with common examinations. The approach seeks to enhance the scope and
quality of teaching and learning. The process necessitates the adoption of new e-
learning technologies as they become available in the production and delivery of
course materials.
WUA is the only university in Zimbabwe that has demonstrated the provision of
gender sensitive and socially responsive education and training as it addresses gen-
der disparity utilizing a recruitment policy that allows up to 80% women and 20%
men until equity in accessing university education is achieved. At the heart of the
core values of the Women's University in Africa is the belief that the economic em-
powerment of women lies firstly in their hands and secondly in equal participation
of those who are able and capable to help them. This lack of economic empower-
ment over decades has witnessed an increase in the extent of poverty of women in
Africa. Economic development for WUA is, therefore, through tertiary education
and the attendant cascading effect of those benefits.
WUA is a private institution, the brainchild of a small group of leading women

educationalists in Zimbabwe. The group was led by two prominent women, Dr Fay
King Chung, a former Minister of Education and Culture in Zimbabwe and a retired
Director of UNESCO Capacity Building Project for Africa, now the Chairperson of
the Board of Trustees and Dr Hope Cynthia Sadza, a retired Public Service Commis-
sioner, now the Vice Chancellor of the University. Professor Lydia Makhubu of the
University of Swaziland is the Chancellor. The University Charter was signed by the
President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency, Comrade Robert Gabriel
Mugabe in 2004.
To achieve the aims of ODL and assist you to enhance your acquisition, retention,
retrieval and application of knowledge, it was important to consider the peculiarities
of the open and distance learner. By adopting a course team approach in producing
learning materials we remembered that we are addressing your needs as an indi-
vidual, not a group. As a result of engaging you in an interactive teaching-learning
process, we have tried to create an environment, which should change your charac-
teristics during and after the process of acquiring the knowledge that we give you in
the various courses.
The new learning environment that incorporates the pedagogy of open and distance
learning considers what you, the learners, think, need and want. Of particular focus
is our active promotion of positive images of women and their needs, interests and
views. You are our most valued participant in this educational process. As you study,
be systematic in your approach, purposeful and focused on what you want to achieve.
Your learning experiences and the evaluation thereof will assist us to improve the
quality of the learning materials.
I take this opportunity to wish you success in your studies.
___________________________________
Professor Hope Cynthia Sadza
Vice Chancellor
Contents
Cultural Anthropology I & II
Module Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 1
UNITE 1:INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO ANTHROPOLOGY
1.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 3

1.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.2 Defining Anthropology ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Activity 1.1 ................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 The birth of Anthropology ....................................................................................................................................... 4
1.3.1 Enlightenment and emergence of Anthropology ................................................................................................... 5
Activity 1.2 ................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.4 Anthropological theories .......................................................................................................................................... 6
1.4.1 Evolutionary perspectives ..................................................................................................................................... 6
1.4.2 Functionalism ........................................................................................................................................................ 6
...................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Activity 1.3 ................................................................................................................................................... 7
1.4.3 Structural-functionalism ......................................................................................................................................... 7
1.4.4 Marxism ................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Activity 1.4 ................................................................................................................................................... 8
1.5 Methodology and fieldwork methods in Anthropology ........................................................................................... 8
Activity 1.5 .................................................................................................................................................. 10
1.6 Anthropology and colonialism ................................................................................................................................ 11
Activity 1.6 .................................................................................................................................................. 11
1.7 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 12
UNIT 2: CULTURE AND SOCIETY
2.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 13

2.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................ 13
2.2 Defining culture ....................................................................................................................................................... 13
Activity 2.1 .................................................................................................................................................. 15
2.2.1 Layers of culture ................................................................................................................................................... 15
2.2.2 Culture, norms and values .................................................................................................................................... 16
2.3 Society ..................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Women’s University in Africa i

Activity 2.2 .................................................................................................................................................. 16
2.4 Characteristics of culture ......................................................................................................................................... 17
2.4.1 Culture is learned .................................................................................................................................................. 17
2.4.2 Culture changes .................................................................................................................................................... 17
2.4.3 People usually are not aware of their culture ........................................................................................................ 18
2.4.4 We do not know all of our own culture ................................................................................................................. 19
2.4.5 Culture gives us a range of permissible behavior patterns ................................................................................... 19
2.4.6 Cultures no longer exist in isolation ...................................................................................................................... 20
2.5 Culture and natural environment ............................................................................................................................. 20
Activity 2.3 .................................................................................................................................................. 21
2.6 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 21
UNIT 3: KINSHIP AND MARRIAGE
3.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 23

3.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................ 23
3.2 Kinship and consanguinity ..................................................................................................................................... 23
Activity 3.1 .................................................................................................................................................. 25
3.2.1 Descent ................................................................................................................................................................. 25
Activity 3.2 .................................................................................................................................................. 26
3.2.2 Corporateness ....................................................................................................................................................... 26
Activity 3.3 .................................................................................................................................................. 27
3.2.3 Clans ..................................................................................................................................................................... 27
3.3 Marriage .................................................................................................................................................................. 27
3.3.1 Marriage rules ....................................................................................................................................................... 28
Activity 3.4 .................................................................................................................................................. 29
3.3.2 Marriage payments ............................................................................................................................................... 29
Activity 3.5 .................................................................................................................................................. 30
3.3.3 Types of marriage among the Fulani of Northern Nigeria ..................................................................................... 30
3.3.4 Arrangement of residence after marriage .............................................................................................................. 31
Activity 3.6 .................................................................................................................................................. 32
3.4 Friendship and voluntary associations ................................................................................................................... 32
Activity 3.7 .................................................................................................................................................. 33
3.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 33
UNIT 4; RELIGION
4.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 35

4.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................ 35
4.2 What is religion? ..................................................................................................................................................... 35
4.2.1 Psychological and social functions of religion ..................................................................................................... 36
Activity 4.1 .................................................................................................................................................. 36
4.3 Religion, magic and morality .................................................................................................................................... 37
Activity 4.2 .................................................................................................................................................. 37
4.4 Common elements of religion .................................................................................................................................. 37
4.4.1 Ancestral spirits .................................................................................................................................................... 37
Activity 4.3 .................................................................................................................................................. 38
4.4.2 Animatism ............................................................................................................................................................. 38
4.4.3 Animism ................................................................................................................................................................ 39
4.4.4 Gods and Goddesses ............................................................................................................................................ 39
Activity 4.4 .................................................................................................................................................. 40
4.4.5 Minor supernatural beings ................................................................................................................................... 40
4.5 Religious leaders ..................................................................................................................................................... 40
ii Women’s University in Africa

Activity 4.5 .................................................................................................................................................. 41
4.6 Religious communication ........................................................................................................................................ 42
4.6.1 Revelation ............................................................................................................................................................. 42
Activity 4.6 .................................................................................................................................................. 43
4.6.2 Rituals in religion .................................................................................................................................................. 43
Activity 4.7 .................................................................................................................................................. 44
4.7 Men and morality .................................................................................................................................................... 44
4.8 Witchcraft and sickness .......................................................................................................................................... 45
4.8.1 Magic as an explanation of illness ........................................................................................................................ 45
4.8.2 Context of witchcraft ............................................................................................................................................. 46
Activity 4.8 .................................................................................................................................................. 47
4.9 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 47
UNIT 5: ETHNICITY AND RACE
5.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 49

5.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................ 50
5.2 Defining ethnicity .................................................................................................................................................... 50
Activity 5.1 .................................................................................................................................................. 51
5.2.1 Race and ethnicity ................................................................................................................................................ 51
Activity 5.2 .................................................................................................................................................. 52
5.2.2 Ethnicity and class ................................................................................................................................................ 52
5.2.3 Ethnic categories across the world ....................................................................................................................... 52
Activity 5.3 .................................................................................................................................................. 53
5.3 Nature of ethnicity ................................................................................................................................................... 53
Activity 5.4 .................................................................................................................................................. 54
5.4 Forms of discrimination ........................................................................................................................................... 54
Activity 5.5 .................................................................................................................................................. 55
5.5 Ethnic groups as culture-bearing units ................................................................................................................... 55
Activity 5.6 .................................................................................................................................................. 56
5.6 The current concern with ethnicity ......................................................................................................................... 56
Activity 5.7 .................................................................................................................................................. 57
5.7 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 58
UNIT 6: IDEOLOGY
6.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 59

6.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................ 59
6.2 Defining ideology .................................................................................................................................................... 59
Activity 6.1 .................................................................................................................................................. 60
6.2.1 Ideology as false consciousness .......................................................................................................................... 60
Activity 6.2 .................................................................................................................................................. 60
6.2.2 Ideology and practice ........................................................................................................................................... 60
Activity 6.3 .................................................................................................................................................. 62
6.2.3 Ideology as collective representations ................................................................................................................. 62
Activity 6.4 .................................................................................................................................................. 62
6.2.4 Ideology as ideal realities ..................................................................................................................................... 62
Activity 6.5 .................................................................................................................................................. 63
6.3 Ideology and the state ............................................................................................................................................. 63
Activity 6.6 .................................................................................................................................................. 65
6.4 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 65
Women’s University in Africa iii

UNIT 7: POLITICS, LAW AND ORDER
7.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 67

7.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................ 67
7.2 What is politics? ...................................................................................................................................................... 67
7.3 The bases of political power .................................................................................................................................... 68
7.3.1 Authority .............................................................................................................................................................. 68
7.3.2 Ideas ..................................................................................................................................................................... 68
7.3.3 Political symbols ................................................................................................................................................... 69
Activity 7.1 .................................................................................................................................................. 69
7.4 Political organisation ............................................................................................................................................... 69
Activity 7.2 .................................................................................................................................................. 69
7.5 Kinds of political systems ....................................................................................................................................... 70
Activity 7.3 .................................................................................................................................................. 70
7.6 Uncentralized political systems ............................................................................................................................... 70
7.6.1 Bands .................................................................................................................................................................... 70
Activity 7.4 .................................................................................................................................................. 71
7.6.2 Tribes .................................................................................................................................................................... 71
Activity 7.5 .................................................................................................................................................. 72
7.7 Centralized political systems ................................................................................................................................... 72
7.7.1 Chiefdoms ............................................................................................................................................................. 72
7.7.2 States .................................................................................................................................................................... 73
Activity 7.6 .................................................................................................................................................. 73
7.8 Case studies of political organisation in Africa ....................................................................................................... 73
7.8.1 Lineage segmentation as political organisation: The Nuer ................................................................................... 73
Activity 7.7 .................................................................................................................................................. 74
7.8.2 Age grades as political organisation: The Gikuyu ................................................................................................ 74
Activity 7.8 .................................................................................................................................................. 74
7.8.3 Petty chiefdoms among the Shona ....................................................................................................................... 75
7.8.4 Clientale system: Rwanda ..................................................................................................................................... 75
Activity 7.9 .................................................................................................................................................. 76
7.8.5 Power sharing among the Swazi ............................................................................................................................ 76
Activity 7.10 ................................................................................................................................................. 76
7.9 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 77
UNIT 8: PRODUCTION AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
8.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 79

8.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................ 79
8.2 Production ............................................................................................................................................................... 79
8.2.1 Foraging ................................................................................................................................................................ 80
8.2.2 Pastoralists ........................................................................................................................................................... 80
8.2.3 Horticulture ........................................................................................................................................................... 81
8.2.4 Intensive Agriculture ............................................................................................................................................ 82
Activity 8.1 .................................................................................................................................................. 83
8.3 Land tenure and land rights ..................................................................................................................................... 83
8.3.1 Feudal systems ..................................................................................................................................................... 84
8.3.2 Lineage based tenurial system .............................................................................................................................. 84
8.3.3 Village based systems ........................................................................................................................................... 84
Activity 8.2 .................................................................................................................................................. 85
8.4 Land reform and redistribution ................................................................................................................................ 85
Activity 8.3 .................................................................................................................................................. 86
8.5 Consumption ........................................................................................................................................................... 86
iv Women’s University in Africa

Activity 8.4 .................................................................................................................................................. 86
8.6 Distribution and Exchange ...................................................................................................................................... 86
8.6.1 Types of reciprocity ............................................................................................................................................. 87
Activity 8.5 .................................................................................................................................................. 87
8.6.2 Redistributive exchanges ...................................................................................................................................... 87
Activity 8.6 .................................................................................................................................................. 89
8.6.3 Commerce between small scale societies .............................................................................................................. 89
Activity 8.7 .................................................................................................................................................. 89
8.7 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 90
UNIT 9: LAW AND ORDER
9.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 91

9.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................ 91
9.2 Law enforcement and dispute mediation ................................................................................................................. 91
9.2.1 Handling disputes in foraging societies ............................................................................................................... 92
Activity 9.1 .................................................................................................................................................. 93
9.2.2 Formal law enforcement in states .......................................................................................................................... 93
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE .................................................................................................................. 93
9.3 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 93
UNIT 10: LEADERSHIP
10.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 95

10.2 Objectives .............................................................................................................................................................. 95
Activity 10.3 ................................................................................................................................................. 95
10.4 Leadership defined ................................................................................................................................................ 96
10.5 Key tenets of transactional theory ........................................................................................................................ 96
10.6 Bailey on leadership and followers ........................................................................................................................ 97
Activity 10.7 ................................................................................................................................................. 98
10.8 Bailey on bureaucracy ........................................................................................................................................... 98
10.9 Leadership as an enterprise ................................................................................................................................... 99
10.10 Leaders tasks ....................................................................................................................................................... 99
10.11 Judicial tasks ........................................................................................................................................................ 99
10.12 Mediation ............................................................................................................................................................. 99
10.13 Arbitration .......................................................................................................................................................... 100
10.14 Normative rules .................................................................................................................................................. 100
10.15 Pragmatic rules ................................................................................................................................................... 101
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE ................................................................................................................ 101
10.16 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................... 101
UNIT 11: CONCLUSION: APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY
11.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 103

11.1 Objectives ............................................................................................................................................................ 103
11.2 What is applied anthropology? ........................................................................................................................... 103
CONCLUSION: APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY ............................................................................................................ 103
11.3 Types of Applied Anthropology ......................................................................................................................... 104
Women’s University in Africa v

11.4. What is the Role of the Applied Anthropologist? ............................................................................................. 104
11.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................... 105
References .................................................................................................................................................................. 105
vi Women’s University in Africa

Module Overview
Module Overview
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Welcome to the Anthropology course and we hope you will have an exciting journey in this
course. This module offers an exciting introduction to social and cultural anthropology. Cultural
Anthropology is the comparative study of society, culture, and human diversity. The discipline
focuses on the various ways that peoples’ lives are shaped by social relations, history, political
economy, and cultural images such as the media. In this course we will tell the story of anthropol-
ogy by exploring the discipline’s history through its own texts, as well present a survey of the
different theoretical approaches that anthropologists have taken in their studies of various cul-
tures and societies. The course will introduce students to the areas of inquiry of cultural anthro-
pology: family and social organization, religion, beliefs and rituals, conflict, social control, ex-
change and transactions, social suffering and healing, globalization, transformations of citizenship,
alterations in local worlds, individual agency and social structure, and other topics. This course
will also introduce students to ethnographic fieldwork methods and to the practice of anthropol-
ogy.
Course Objectives
!
Our aim is that by the end of this course you should be able to:
Ø Define anthropology and its subject matter;
Ø Explain the emergence of anthropology as a discipline;
Ø Examine the major theoretical foundations of anthropology;
Ø Apply anthropological concepts to real life situations.
We hope you will enjoy your studies and this module of be of great assistance to your studies.
Women’s University in Africa 1

2 Women’s University in Africa

Unit 1 Introduction and Background to Anthropology
Unit 1
INTRODUCTION AND
BACKGROUND TO
ANTHROPOLOGY
1.0 Introduction
Welcome to the exciting discipline of Anthropology. This unit equips you with the necessary
knowledge and conceptual tools that will be useful in helping you to understand what the disci-
pline is about. It introduces you to the emergence of the discipline of anthropology, tracing its
historical development. After this section you should be able to understand the origins, theoretical
underpinnings and subject matter of anthropology.
1.1 Objectives
!
After completing this first unit you must be able to:
Ø Define anthropology
Ø Explain the emergence of anthropology as a discipline
Ø Outline the major anthropological theories
Ø Describe the methodology and field work methods in anthropology:
ethnography and ethnology
1.2 Defining Anthropology

Anthropology concerns itself with humans as complex social beings with a capacity for language,
thought and culture. The study of anthropology is about understanding biological and cultural
aspects of life among peoples throughout the world. All humans are born with similar basic
physical characteristics but, depending on where they grow up, each individual is exposed to
different climates, foods, languages, religious beliefs. However, human beings are not simply
shaped by their environment; they also actively shape the environment in which they live. A key

aim of anthropology is to understand the common constraints within which human beings operate
as well as the differences which are evident between particular societies and cultures.
Anthropology can also be viewed as a comparative study of past and contemporary cultures,
focusing on the ways of life and customs of all peoples of the world. Subdisciplines have devel-
oped within anthropology, owing to the amount of information collected and the wide variety of
methods and techniques used in research. The main subdisciplines are physical anthropology,
archaeology, linguistic anthropology, ethnology (which is also called social or cultural anthropol-
ogy) and theoretical anthropology, and applied anthropology. Simply put, anthropology is the
study of man as a member of society with culture and social organisation. The Greek roots of the
word anthropology (anthros and logos) suggest that it is the study of man. This definition how-
ever is too broad to be academically useful. For us to understand what anthropology entails, we
have to go back to the Enlightenment period. This will help you understand the contributions of
thinkers such as Montesquieu, Rousseau and Hobbes to the emergence of the discipline.
Activity 1.1 "

1.Define Anthropology……...............................................................
2.What is anthropology mainly concerned with?........................
3. What do you think is the work of anthropologists?..........................
......................................................................
1.3 The birth of Anthropology

Anthropology was born in France and United Kingdom in the nineteenth century. Its designation
was under ethnology which is narrowly concerned with cross cultural comparisons. In the 1870s
anthropology replaced ethnology with the formation of the Royal Anthropological Institute of
Great Britain and Ireland. The discipline was first formally taught at Oxford University in 1884.
Herodotus’s writings could be described as one of the earliest ethnographic descriptions but if
we are to talk of anthropology as a discipline rather than a loose collection of traveller’s tales, we
must move forward to the nineteenth century when the scholarly study of human cultural and
biological diversity began to take shape. At this time the western world was in the throes of some
rapid and far-reaching developments. Across Europe and North America the expansion of new
industries, mass migration from the countryside to the cities and the development of new systems
of communication and transport had profound impacts on social life and the organisation of
society and economy. This was also a time when western colonial expansion and domination
were at their height. Social commentators and philosophers were keen to understand the changes
that were happening around them. The foundations of the major academic disciplines as we
know them today were laid down during this period.
One of the major questions asked during the nineteenth century was ‘how did we get to where
we are today?’ Charles Darwin wrote an account of the way species develop through natural
selection; this was his theory of evolution which first appeared in 1859. Darwin suggested that all
life forms had developed gradually over long periods of time, with the more successful species

displacing ones less well adapted to their environment. These ideas had a profound impact on
scientific enquiry in the biological sciences and also had wider cultural repercussions. Many of
the most influential social theorists of the nineteenth century adapted Darwin’s model of biologi-
cal evolution to understand changes that were happening at a social and cultural level. The fol-
lowing subsection outlines to you the contribution of Enlightenment thinkers to anthropology.
1.3.1 Enlightenment and emergence of Anthropology

Enlightenment is a period of remarkable intellectual development that spurned from the end of the
English Revolution to the beginning of the French Revolution (Ritzer 1996). Early European
thinkers built their theories from reports from early travellers such as Marco Polo in China and
missionaries in other parts of the world. Such stories highlighted vast cultural differences between
Europe and far away regions. European intellectuals saw these cultural differences as problem-
atic and required explanation. Adams and Sydie (2001) state that these “thinkers put society and
social relations under intense scrutiny”.
The Enlightenment thinkers varied in their explanations of cultural differences between Europe
and the rest of the world. For Romantics such as Rousseau, “the noble savage” could be equated
in Christian theology with man before Adam’s fall from grace. Hobbes however characterised
savage life as ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’ by comparison with that of Europe. The
Enlightenment thinkers propagated the notion of ‘progress’ which Europe had experienced as
highlighted in the spheres of technology, economics and politics. Europe was thus superior to all
other regions. This was the origin of European ethnocentrism (being fond of your own way of
life and condescending or even hostile toward other cultures) apparent in nineteenth century
explanations of societal evolution which always placed contemporary European practice at the
most advanced level. You can now begin to see how anthropology emerged and its foundations
in the Enlightenment. This period shaped the theoretical foundations of the discipline which are
discussed in the next section.
Activity 1.2 "

1. How was the emergence of anthropology influenced by the
Enlightenment thinkers? ................
............................................................................................

1.4 Anthropological theories

1.4.1 Ev olutionar y per specti
Evolutionar spectiv ves
Evolutionary perspectives in anthropology date back to the eighteenth century French intellectu-
als such as Montesquieu, Condorcet and Rousseau. The ideas of Charles Darwin are essential in
understanding the basic tenets of this approach. Other advocates of evolutionism include Muller,
MacLennan and Morgan. Evolution, as a technical concept, comprises two fundamental as-
pects: the idea that a common form becomes differentiated and that simple forms become more
complex. For example Morgan (1871 in Cheater 1986) traced the increasing complexity of
sexual and family relationships from promiscuity, through fifteen stages of group marriage and
polygamy, to monogamy. Frazer (1890 in Cheater 1986) shows how enhanced knowledge,
leading to a better control of the environment help explain why, people turned to religious idea
that unseen suprahuman forces control the world, the physical world after magical ways, ideas
failed. As the knowledge of the physical world increased further through scientific advancement,
religion lost some of its attraction. You should note that the basic assumption is that societies/
systems change evolutionary from simple forms to complex ones and that they go through stages
of development. The major weakness of this perspective is that it is based on the logical thought
process of an intellectual from the comfort of an armchair thus it lacks empirical validity. Notion
of the stages of development in an evolutionary sequence has profound influence on Marxism,
Redcliffe – Brown’s structural – functionalism and Malinowski’s functionalism which are outlined
below. There was also another approach at the same time known as the diffusionists such as
Boas, Kroeber and Wissler. They decried the evolutionists’ approach, holding the view that
culture, of which social systems are only part and parcel, is the product of a historical process.
1.4.2 Functionalism
This theory is based mainly on Malinowski’s seminal work in the Trobriand Islands off the south
coast of New Guinea. He spent two and a half years living in the islands which was ten times the
duration of any previous anthropological trip. In the 1920s back at the London School of Eco-
nomics he propagated his functionalist approach. Functionalism starts from the premise that
human beings must satisfy certain basic needs to survive such as eating, drinking, excreting and
reproducing. Meeting these needs is however mediated by cultural rules which individuals con-
form to. Individuals cooperate and conform to these rules because many of their objectives
cannot be achieved alone. Such cooperation creates institutions which are responsible for organising
activities.
Institutions play a part within the interrelated whole of a culture. According to this perspective,
the institutions of a culture operate to satisfy the needs of the individuals and that of society as a
whole. Every aspect of a culture thus has a function, the satisfaction of needs. Can you identify
certain parts of your own culture and the needs they satisfy? All customs have contemporary
functions and culture is not a historical thing of shreds and patches but an integrated working
whole. Present customs can not be used to explain the past because they only make sense in their
existing social context. Functionalism however is rather conservative and fails to explain social
change. Theorists such as Durkheim argued that dissent from collective norms is dysfunctional.

Activity 1.3 "

1. Outline the basic tenets of functionalism......................................
...................................................................................
2. Are they applicable to your own culture?...............................................
...........................................................................
1.4.3 Str uctur al-functionalism

uctural-functionalism
Radcliffe-Brown the major proponent of this perspective supported Malinowski’s new function-
alist approach in the 1920s but by 1935 he was dissatisfied by its intellectual range and argued
that the concept of function should be summed under that of structure. He defines social structure
as ‘a complex network of...actually existing...social relations’ among actors in institutionalised
roles (Radcliffe Brown 1952:190 in Cheater 1986). The main concern for him was thus social
relationship unlike culture as in the case of Malinowski. In his studies among the Andamanese he
saw social relationships as functionally contributing to the maintenance of social structure, that is,
as a mechanism of social integration. To him function means the contribution which a partial
activity makes to the total activity which it is a part.
Structure (borrowing from Durkheim) as a network of relationships comprises three interrelated

aspects:
Ø Social morphology which refers to the social structure
Ø Social physiology which means how social structure functions
Ø Social evolution which means how social structure changes whilst social condition refers to
‘health’ of the society.
He differed with Malinowski in that he believed in diachronic study of society (studying society
in time and space unlike synchronic which is studying society at present). In the end you have to
understand that Radcliffe-Brown’s was interested in society whilst Malinowski was interested in
culture. Radcliffe-Brown argues that society’s capacity to change itself may be the mechanism
which enables it to survive a structural revolution that may result from a functional failure.
1.4.4 Marxism
The Marxist revolution in anthropology coincided with the rise of French anthropology and inde-
pendence of former European colonies in Africa. Cheater (1986) highlights that there was a great
degree of collaboration between anthropologists and colonial authorities. Anthropology was thus
stigmatized as the exploitative ‘hand maiden’ colonialism. French researchers such as Claude

Meillasoux begin to employ Marxist analytical tools in the former French colonies of Africa
around the 1950’s. The major weakness was that Marx’s evolutionary theory was difficult to
apply on the African societies. Marx believed that societies moved from one stage to the next
beginning with primitive communalism and reaching the highest stage of communism. This is why
you will find that earlier Marxian literature in anthropology was concerned with which phase
African societies where located. African societies introduced new modes of production (tech-
nologies and ways of organising labour in particular societies at given historical times) such as
lineage or colonial capitalist modes. Various Marxists during this phase realised that Marx’s
original ideas could only provide a general guide but there was need to be imaginative and
provide neo-Marxian approaches.
Marx’s original assumption that relations of production (economic base) influence all that rela-
tionships in societies (economic determinism) had difficulties when applied to non industrial states.
Religion, kinship and marriage organise and control economic activities and not vice versa. When
the household or family groups organise all activities, it shows that there is no one way causal
relationship between the economic base and societal super structure. There is thus a mutual
relationship between the base and superstructure.
Activity 1.4 "

1. Outline the basic tenets of structural functionalism............
...........................................................
2. Analyse the applicability of Marx’s original ideas in African societies.......
.................................................................................................................
1.5 Methodology and fieldwork methods in

Anthropology
Anthropologists have over time developed the ethnographic methodology which consists of rig-
orous fieldwork. The pioneers of this type of research include Boas, Malinowski and Radcliffe
Brown. Ethnography developed together with anthropology as a discipline. Ethnography can be
best described as, “immersion in the life of the group, community or organisation to learn about
people’s habits and thoughts” (Punch 1986 in Cheater 1986). You as the researcher enter into
the social world of those being studied, adopt social roles, listen, observe, interact with them to
the point where you “acquire an insider’s view-point”. That is:
· You ‘enter into their heads”;
· “See the world the way they do;
· “Adopt their view-points”.

Thus it is important to see people being studied as actors in their own cultural context and to
perceive and understand how they view the world around them. This is called the emic ap-
proach in which the researcher seeks to understand a society’s culture from within unlike the etic
approach which focuses not on the natives but the researcher’s own interpretations and expla-
nations. In ethnographic research it is important for the researcher to employ a reflexive ap-
proach which requires, ‘...sensitive and continual involvement of the fieldworker with the people
being studied, as well as an identification with, and a moral responsibility for their problems and
quality of life’ (De Jongh 1991).
Ethnographic research refers to first hand, direct, intensive (face to face) contact with the people
being studied. To gather information anthropologists employ techniques such as:
· Observation (non participatory) and participant observation: observation is not hasty

or incidental but it is a conscious attempt by the researcher to learn more about the culture
of the society concerned. Note taking is an important aspect of anthropological research
work but nowadays tape recorders or ordinary cameras are being utilised. The concern of
this method is to understand meanings and actions in their social contexts. Total immersion
into a society is however impossible and the biggest danger is that the researcher might go
native (become part of the society he/she is studying). Anthropologists (even experienced
ones) experiences culture shock which is a psychological stress and uncertainty due to
unfamiliar conditions with people who speak a different language and do things differently.
Stages in Ethnographic Research
Ø Prepare for the research, the literature, the research focus;
Ø Selecting the site;
Ø Negotiating access: getting past the “gatekeepers”.
Ø Presentation of Self: covert or ‘full disclosure’ by the researcher;
Ø The stranger within (Multi-method):
· Role playing,
· Listening,
· Observing
· Friend or foe?—ethical issues

Ø ‘Making sense of it all.” Analyse data as you go on: concern with process; reflexivity
Ø Exit
· In depth interviewing: this may include narratives (life histories), case histories or general
individual interviews. Anthropologists ask questions about what they observe and try to
find meanings of various actions from knowledgeable people within a society. It is not
enough to observe without fully understanding meanings and actions. Interviewing requires
time, rapport and trust from the interviewees who are usually elders or gatekeepers within
the societies being studied.
Stages in the Field Interview Process
Ø “Thematizing: Clarifying the purpose of your interview”, the issues that you will explore
during the interview sessions.
Ø “Designing:” Map out how you will achieve the purpose of your interview. It involves
drawing up your interview guide—the set of questions that will be the primers for the
‘conversation.’
Ø “Interviewing:” Actually conducting the interviews.
Ø “Transcribing:” Converting your recorded sessions into texts.
Ø “Analysis”: Making sense of your transcript, and the meaning of the information you gath-
ered.
Ø “Verifying:” Checking your sources for the reliability of the information they gave you.
Ø “Reporting:” Writing up and communicating your findings to others.
(Sources: Kvale 1996)
NB: Ethnographic fieldwork is not the only research method that is used by anthropologists.
Statistical surveys, questionnaires, focused group discussions and social network analysis but the
focus at this level of your studies is on ethnography.
Activity 1.5 "

1. What is ethnographic research?......................................................
2. Describe the stages involved in ethnography?........................
3. What is reflexive approach? How does it aide ethnographic
fieldwork?.............

Ethnology
Anthropologists are not only interested in describing individual cultures but also making cross-
cultural comparisons by systematically comparing different cultures. The results of ethnographic
study done on individual societies is analysed and certain phenomena and elements are com-
pared to other cultures. It is through such studies that we know for example that elementary
family of mother, father and children is found in almost all societies. This method can be used to
study differences betweens such entities as organisations, religions and even economic systems.
1.6 Anthropology and colonialism

Anthropology emerged from the colonial expansion of Europe. Colonialism structured the rela-
tionship between anthropologists and the people they studied and had an effect on methodologi-
cal and conceptual formulations in the discipline. Since anthropology emerged along with the
expansion of Europe and the colonization of the non-Western world, anthropologists found them-
selves participants in the colonial system which organized relationships between Westerners and
non-Westerners.
Anthropology contributed to the gulf between Western and non-Western culture by providing
information which supports the mental constructs developed by those in power. Anthropologists,
who peer at a culture from the outside, record the differences between that culture and Western
civilization. The noting of differences between two groups is not in itself racist, but it invariably
acquires such a connotation in the context of colonialism (Lewis 1973: 583-584 in Onwuejeogwu
1975). English speaking anthropologists served colonial administrators whose directive was to
rule through local personal and this in the jargon of post-modernism produced multivocality and
gave anthropologists the opportunity to assert themselves more creatively
Ironically despite their use of anthropologists in the colonial enterprise, officials at the British
colonial office were profoundly suspicious of anthropologists, especially those who came from
the practical school of anthropology headed by Malinowski. Some colonial administrators ac-
cused anthropologists of peddling tribalism. Marxist anthropology contributed to the struggle
against capitalism. Jomo Kenyatta a student of Malinowiski used his anthropological skills to
construct the Mau Mau movement to claim power in Kenya. During World War II Evans-
Pritchard served as an officer in military intelligence in East Africa, Ethiopia, Libya, and the
Middle East, and he was able to do some anthropological fieldwork in these areas. In Sudan he
raised irregular troops among the Anuak to harass the Italians and engaged in guerrilla warfare. In
1942 he was posted to the British Military Administration of Cyrenaica in North Africa.
Activity 1.6 "

1. In what ways can anthropology be described as the handmaiden of
colonisation?.........................

1.7 Conclusion
This first unit has provided an introduction to anthropology. It outlined the meaning and subject
matter of anthropology and how it emerged as a discipline. You were introduced to the various
theoretical frameworks that underpin the discipline. At this point you are expected to have under-
stood and are able to outline what the discipline of anthropology is concerned with. It equips you
with the necessary analytical tools to be able to fully grasp the theoretical concepts which will be
outlined throughout this module.

Unit 2 CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Unit 2
CULTURE AND SOCIETY
2.0 Introduction
The second unit introduces you to the concepts of culture and society. It outlines the various
anthropological discussions around these two concepts. Culture and society have been used
interchangeably without analysing the deeper implications of how and where we use these con-
cepts. What do you understand by the terms culture or society? Do your think they are one and
the same thing? This unit distinguishes the two and gives you a better understanding of these
concepts. Anthropology is basically interested in how people live and organize themselves which
is the realm of culture. You should look at yourself and the community around you as you read
this unit to understand the anthropological explanations of culture and society.
2.1 Objectives
!
You should be able to do the following by the end of this unit:
Ø Define culture ,society as outlined by different anthropologists and how
they are used in different contexts;
Ø Analyse the relationship between culture and society.
Ø Understand the different elements that make up what we understand as
culture.
2.2 Defining culture

The word culture has many different meanings. For some it refers to an appreciation of good
literature, music, art, and food. For a biologist, it is likely to be a colony of bacteria or other
microorganisms growing in a nutrient medium in a laboratory petri dish. However, for anthro-
pologists and other behavioural scientists, culture is the full range of learned human behaviour

patterns. Onwuejeugwu (1975) outlines that there are broadly three groups of anthropologists
who differ on how they look at the two:
Ø Anthropologists who define culture as all embracing (thus society is subsumed under cul-
ture) such as Malinowski;
Ø Anthropologists who dichotomize between society and culture, for example Radcliffe-
Brown and Evans-Pritchard;
Ø Anthropologists who steer the middle course by accepting that society and culture are two
aspects of social realities viewed from different dimensions such as Levi-Strauss and Nadel.
Taylor (1871 in Onwuejeugwu 1975) defines culture as, “the complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of society”. For Kroeber, it is “the mass of learned and transmitted motor
reactions, habits, techniques, ideas and values and the behaviour they induce”. Onwuejeugwu
(1975) argues that by these definitions and if one accepts that the view that the network of
relationships unique among human beings are habits and behaviours that are acquired, then soci-
ety is part of culture. Leach defines culture in a structuralist way as, “[culture] emphasises the
component of accumulated resources, immaterial as well as material, which people inherit, em-
ploy, transmute, add to and transmit”. Culture thus has;
i. Geographical distribution
ii. Patterns, structure and functions
Culture can be treated as dynamic, as a continuum and as symbolic. It can be treated as a whole
;;lk,or as a made up of systems and sub-systems. From your understanding of the fore going can
you say there is a Zimbabwean or Zambian culture or there are various Zambian cultures? People’s
behaviour, actions and most aspects of their lives are derived from cultural values and norms. For
anthropologists culture includes phenomena such as food production, religion and marriage. It is
the total way of life of a society. Humans create culture for some of the following reasons:
- To educate their children and prepare them for the future
- To ensure people live in harmony and peace with each other
- To manipulate the natural environment for survival
- To organise religious activities and ensure harmony with spiritual realm

Leslie-White in his evolutionary approach holds that man is the only living species that has a
culture. Culture depends upon ‘symbolising’ which he defines as the ‘ability to originate and
bestow meaning upon a thing and ability to grasp and appreciate such meaning’. Symbolising
make the development of culture possible.
Activity 2.1 "

1. Outline the different definitions of culture noting their weaknesses and
strengths......................................................
2. How would you define culture using your own society as an example?
Is there a Zambian or Zimbabwean culture?...............................
2.2.1 Layers of culture

There are very likely three layers or levels of culture that are part of your learned behaviour
patterns and perceptions:
Ø Body of cultural traditions: this distinguishes one culture from the other. When people
speak of Italian, Samoan, or Japanese culture, they are referring to the shared language,
traditions, and beliefs that set each of these peoples apart from others. In most cases,
those who share your culture do so because they acquired it as they were raised by par-
ents and other family members who have it.
Ø Subculture: In complex, diverse societies in which people have come from many different
parts of the world, they often retain much of their original cultural traditions. As a result,
they are likely to be part of an identifiable subculture in their new society. The shared
cultural traits of subcultures set them apart from the rest of their society. Examples of
easily identifiable subcultures in the United States include ethnic groups such as Vietnam-
ese Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans. Members of each of these
subcultures share a common identity, food tradition, dialect or language, and other cultural
traits that come from their common ancestral background and experience.
Ø Cultural universals: These are learned behaviour patterns that are shared by all of hu-
manity collectively. No matter where people live in the world, they share these universal
traits. Examples of such “human cultural” traits include:
- communicating with a verbal language consisting of a limited set of sounds and grammati-
cal rules for constructing sentences
- using age and gender to classify people (e.g., teenager, senior citizen, woman, man)
- classifying people based on marriage and descent relationships and having kinship terms to
refer to them (e.g. wife, mother, uncle, cousin)
- having a sexual division of labour (e.g., men’s work versus women’s work)

2.2.2 Cultur
Culture e , nor ms and v alues
values
Mutual cooperation among members is a necessity in the creation of culture. Social order is
achieved through norms which must be followed by all. A norm can be defined as a guideline
agreed on by consensus among the majority of people in a society for example among the Shona
a daughter in law is not expected to be seen wearing trousers around her in laws. Norms guide
people on how they should behave towards others though they are in some cases not always
followed. Formal and informal sanctions are applied to members of a group who do not follow
norms. Formal sanctions include imprisonment or fines depending on the severity of the trans-
gression whilst informal sanctions include being ostracised or ignored. Value systems in society
are developed through the perceptions, views and value judgements of people within a society
who have reached a consensus about certain rules of behaviour. The value system can be seen as
the deep structure of a culture which gives direction
2.3 Society
Society can be defined as an aggregate network of social relationships of a group or groups. As
a concept society is broader than culture and it varies in number from small homogenous groups
to huge numbers of people. Society has been conceptualised as static, dynamic, structural and
functional but the validity of any type of approach depends on what you are looking for. Society
and culture may not be co-terminous, but both are in fact aspects of the same phenomenon.
Culture can be viewed as an all embracing concept thus society can be seen as an aspect of
culture. Culture and society are not the same thing. While cultures are complexes of learned
behaviour patterns and perceptions, societies are groups of interacting organisms. People
are not the only animals that have societies. Schools of fish, flocks of birds, and hives of bees are
societies. In the case of humans, however, societies are groups of people who directly or indi-
rectly interact with each other. People in human societies also generally perceive that their soci-
ety is distinct from other societies in terms of shared traditions and expectations.
While human societies and cultures are not the same thing, they are inextricably connected be-
cause culture is created and transmitted to others in a society. Cultures are not the product of
lone individuals. They are the continuously evolving products of people interacting with each
other. Cultural patterns such as language and politics make no sense except in terms of the
interaction of people. If you were the only human on earth, there would be no need for language
or government.
Activity 2.2 "

1. Define the term society? .....................................................
2. How is it different to culture?...............................................
..............................................................................................................
3. Why is society important to culture?..................................................
.........................................................................................................

2.4 Characteristics of culture

2.4.1 Cultur
Culture e is lear ned
Human infants come into the world with basic drives such as hunger and thirst, but they do not
possess instinctive patterns of behaviour to satisfy them. Likewise, they are without any cultural
knowledge. However, they are genetically predisposed to rapidly learn language and other cul-
tural traits. New born humans are amazing learning machines. Any normal baby can be placed
into any family on earth and grow up to learn their culture and accept it as his or her own. Since
culture is non-instinctive, we are not genetically programmed to learn a particular one. Every
human generation potentially can discover new things and invent better technologies. The new
cultural skills and knowledge are added onto what was learned in previous generations. As a
result, culture is cumulative. Due to this cumulative effect, most high school students today are
now familiar with mathematical insights and solutions that ancient Greeks such as Archimedes
and Pythagoras struggled their lives to discover.
Cultural evolution is due to the cumulative effect of culture. We now understand that the time
between major cultural inventions has become steadily shorter, especially since the invention of
agriculture 8,000-10,000 years ago. The progressively larger human population after that time
was very likely both a consequence and a cause of accelerating culture growth. The more
people there are, the more likely new ideas and information will accumulate. If those ideas result
in a larger, more secure food supplies, the population will inevitably grow. In a sense, culture has
been the human solution to surviving changing environments, but it has continuously compounded
the problem by making it possible for more humans to stay alive. In other words, human cultural
evolution can be seen as solving a problem that causes the same problem again and again. The
ultimate cost of success of cultural technology has been a need to produce more and more food
for more and more people.
The rate of cultural evolution for many human societies during the last two centuries has been
unprecedented. Today, major new technologies are invented every few years rather than once
or twice a century or even less often, as was the case in the past. Likewise, there has been an
astounding increase in the global human population. It is worth reflecting on the fact that there
are people alive today who were born before cell phones, computers, televisions, radios, antibi-
otics, and even airplanes. These now elderly individuals have seen the human population double
several times. The world that was familiar to them in their childhood is no longer there. It is as if
they have moved to a new alien culture and society. Not surprisingly, they often have difficulty in
accepting and adjusting to the change. The psychological distress and confusion that accompa-
nies this has been referred to as future shock.
2.4.2 Culture changes

All cultural knowledge does not perpetually accumulate. At the same time that new cultural traits
are added, some old ones are lost because they are no longer useful. For example, most city
dwellers today do not have or need the skills required for survival in a wilderness. Most would
very likely starve to death because they do not know how to acquire wild foods and survive the

extremes of weather outdoors. What is more important in modern urban life are such things as
the ability to drive a car, use a computer, and understand how to obtain food in a supermarket or
restaurant.
The regular addition and subtraction of cultural traits results in culture change. All cultures
change over time—none is static. However, the rate of change and the aspects of culture that
change varies from society to society. Change can occur as a result of both inventions within a
society as well as the diffusion of cultural traits from one society to another. Predicting whether
a society will adopt new cultural traits or abandon others is complicated by the fact that the
various aspects of a culture are closely interwoven into a complex pattern. Changing
one trait will have an impact on other traits because they are functionally interconnected. As a
result, there commonly is a resistance to major changes.
2.4.3 People usually are not aware of their culture

The way that we interact and do things in our everyday lives seems “natural” to us. We are
unaware of our culture because we are so close to it and know it so well. For most people, it is
as if their learned behaviour was biologically inherited. It is usually only when they come into
contact with people from another culture that they become aware that their patterns of behaviour
are not universal.
The common response in all societies to other cultures is to judge them in terms of the values and
customs of their own familiar culture. This is ethnocentrism. Being fond of your own way of
life and condescending or even hostile toward other cultures is normal for all people. Alien
culture traits are often viewed as being not just different but inferior, less sensible, and even
“unnatural.” For example, European cultures strongly condemn other societies that practice
polygamy and the eating of dogs—behaviour that Europeans generally consider to be immoral
and offensive.( Why no give an example of the African context as well) Likewise, many people
in conservative Muslim societies, such as Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, consider European
women highly immodest and immoral for going out in public without being chaperoned by a male
relative and without their bodies covered from head to toe so as to prevent men from looking at
them. Ethnocentrism is not characteristic only of complex modern societies. People in small,
relatively isolated societies are also ethnocentric in their views about outsiders.
Our ethnocentrism can prevent us from understanding and appreciating another culture. When
anthropologists study other societies, they need to suspend their own ethnocentric judgments
and adopt a cultural relativity approach. That is, they try to learn about and interpret the
various aspects of the culture they are studying in reference to that culture rather than to the
anthropologist’s own culture. This provides an understanding of how such practices as po-
lygamy can function and even support other cultural traditions. Without taking a cultural relativity
approach, it would otherwise be difficult, for example, to comprehend why women among the
Masai cattle herding people of Kenya might prefer to be one of several co-wives rather than
have a monogamous marriage.

Ethnocentrism has both positive and negative values for a society. The negative potential is
obvious. Ethnocentrism results in prejudices about people from other cultures and the rejection
of their “alien ways.” When there is contact with people from other cultures, ethnocentrism can
prevent open communication and result in misunderstanding and mistrust. This would be highly
counterproductive for businessmen trying to negotiate a trade deal or even just neighbours trying
to get along with each other. The positive aspect of ethnocentrism has to do with the protection
that it can provide for a culture. By causing a rejection of the foods, customs, and perceptions of
people in other cultures, it acts as a conservative force in preserving traditions of one’s own
culture. It can help maintain the separation and uniqueness of cultures.
2.4.4 We do not know all of our own culture

No one knows everything about his or her own culture. In all societies, there are bodies of
specialized cultural knowledge that are gender specific—they are known to men but not women
or vice versa. In many societies there are also bodies of knowledge that are limited largely to
particular social classes, occupations, religious groups, or other special purpose associations.
Gender based skills, knowledge, and perceptions largely stem from the fact that boys and girls to
some extent are treated differently from each other in all societies. While there may be consider-
able overlap in what they are taught, there are some things that are gender specific. For example
in most traditional societies hunting was regarded as a male task thus knowledge on it was taught
to boys only.
2.4.5 Cultur
Culture e gi
givves us a rrang ang
ange e of per missib
permissib
missible le beha vior pa
behavior tter ns
patter
Cultures commonly allow a range of ways in which men can be men and women can be women.
Culture also tells us how different activities should be conducted, such as how one should act as
a husband, wife, parent or child. These rules of permissible behavior are usually flexible to a
degree—there are some alternatives rather than hard rules. For example different cultures have
different rules for dressing men and women. The wide range of permissible ways of being a
woman in North America today makes women somewhat unpredictable as individuals when
others are trying to understand their intentions but do not fully comprehend the cultural patterns.
It is particularly hard for men from other cultures to comprehend the subtle nuances. This at
times can result in awkward or even dangerous situations. For instance, the easy friendliness and
casual, somewhat revealing dress of young North American women in the summertime is some-
times interpreted by traditional Latin American and Middle Eastern men as a sexual invitation.
What messages do the clothes and body language of the women communicate to you? How do
you think the way someone dresses might be interpreted by members of the opposite gender and
by people in other cultures?
The range of permissible ways of dressing and acting as a man or woman are often very limited
in strictly fundamental Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Hindu societies. In Afghanistan under the
Taliban rule during the late 1990’s, men were expected to wear traditional male clothing and
were beaten or jailed by morality police for not having a full beard, playing or listening to music,
or allowing female family members to go out in public unchaperoned. Women were similarly

punished for being in public without wearing a plain loose outer gown that covered their face and
entire body including their feet. They also were not allowed to go to school or to work outside
of the home.
2.4.6 Cultures no longer exist in isolation

It is highly unlikely that there are any societies still existing in total isolation from the outside
world. Even small, out of the way tribal societies are now being integrated to some extent into
the global economy. That was not the case a few generations ago. Some of the societies in the
Highlands of New Guinea were unaware of anyone beyond their homeland until the arrival of
European Australian miners in the 1930’s. A few of the Indian tribes in the Upper Amazon Basin
of South America remained unaware of the outside world until explorers entered their territories
in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Members of these same New Guinean and Amazonian societies
today buy clothes and household items produced by multinational corporations. They are devel-
oping a growing knowledge of other cultures through schools, radios, and even televisions and
the Internet. As a result of this inevitable process, their languages and indigenous cultural pat-
terns are being rapidly replaced. Virtually all societies are now acquiring cultural traits from the
economically dominant societies of the world. The most influential of these dominant societies
today are predominantly in North America and Western Europe. However, even these societies
are rapidly adopting words, foods, and other cultural traits from all over the world for example
the MacDonaldisation of the world through rapid increase globally of fast food chains.
The emergence of what is essentially a shared global culture is not likely to result in the current
major cultures disappearing in the immediate future the same way many of the small indigenous
ones have. Language differences and ethnocentrism will very likely prevent that from happen-
ing. There are powerful conflicting trends in the world today. At the same time that many people
are actively embracing globalism, others are reviving tribalism. The break-up of the former
empire of the Soviet Union into largely ethnic based nations is an example of the latter. Likewise,
some of the nations in Africa whose boundaries were arbitrarily created by Europeans during the
colonial era are now experiencing periodic tribal wars that may result in the creation of more
ethnically based countries.
2.5 Culture and natural environment

Culture is an adaptive mechanism by which human beings are able to live and survive in any
natural condition. We have successfully occupied all of the major geographic regions of the
world, but our bodies have remained essentially those of warm climate animals. We cannot
survive outside of the warmer regions of our planet without our cultural knowledge and technol-
ogy. What made it possible for our ancestors to begin living in temperate and ultimately subarctic
regions of the northern hemisphere after half a million years ago was the invention of efficient
hunting skills, fire use, and, ultimately, clothing, warm housing, agriculture, and commerce. Cul-
ture has been a highly successful adaptive mechanism for our species. It has given us a major
selective advantage in the competition for survival with other life forms. Culture has allowed the
global human population to grow from less than 10 million people shortly after the end of the last

ice age to more than 6.5 billion people today, a mere 10,000 years later. Culture has made us the
most dangerous and the most destructive large animal on our planet. It is ironic that despite the
power that culture has given us, we are totally dependent on it for survival. We need our cultural
skills to stay alive.
Activity 2.3 "

1. List the characteristics of culture....................................
................................................................................................................
2. Use examples to explain what each characteristic entails..................
............................................................................
2.6 Conclusion
Culture is a pervasive concept in human societies and in anthropological studies. Anthropology
(social and cultural component especially) is all about studying cultures in different societies. The
precluding unit has thus introduced the concept of culture. Understanding culture and how it is
variously viewed will help you in understanding all the following concepts in this module because
they are all at the end derived from culture.


Unit 3 Kinship And Marriage
Unit 3
KINSHIP AND MARRIAGE
3.0 Introduction
This unit introduces you to the concepts of kinship and marriage. It outlines what is meant by the
two concepts and how they are used to describe various relationships in society. You should be
able to look at your own culture and family and see how the various forms of kinship and mar-
riage which are outlined in this unit relate to your society. It will discuss concepts such as descent,
consanguinity and how they relate to kinship. The unit will then outline marriage forms, rules and
marriage gifts (brideprice) whilst showing how various communities around the world practice
these things. The unit will discuss outline other various voluntary associations such as friendships.
3.1 Objectives
!
You should be able to do the following after going through this unit:
Ø Outline the concept of kinship and marriage;
Ø Analyse various forms of kinship and how they relate to marriage and
descent;
Ø Analyse various forms of marriage, marriage rules and marriage
payments and how they are practised in different cultures.
3.2 Kinship and consanguinity

Kinship is invariably the basis of social relations in societies whether hunter gatherer or agricul-
tural. It is a working system linking human beings together in an orderly arrangement of interac-
tion. Kin groups form the basis of economic, religious and political organisation. Lavenda and
Schultz (2000) define kinship as the various systems of social organisation that societies have
constructed on principles derived from the universal human experiences of mating, birth and

inheritance. It can be seen as an arrangement which enables people to live together and cooper-
ate. Marxist anthropologists tended to focus on the economic role of kinship. Meillasoux argues
that social kinship is a means of distributing and redistributing workers among productive units in
a society. These productive units could be households or families. Kinship thus becomes key in
organising production. Kinship however goes beyond production but also religious organisation,
education and social reproduction of new members within families and households.
Kinship results from the recognition of a social relationship between parents and children which
is not the same as the physical/biological relations and may or may not coincide with it. It has a
biological base to some extent but by and large it is a social relation thus it is socially deter-
mined. There is thus a difference between shared blood, consanguinity and social kinship (Cheater
1986). While kinship may have a biological basis, most modes of reckoning kinship for social
purposes, emphasise biological relationships differently. The Swazi, for example treat marriage
between cross cousins (children of a brother and a sister) is permissible, marriage between
parallel cousins (children of brothers or children of sisters) is regarded incestuous.
Consanguinity refers to having the same blood. It is often assumed to mean the same as kinship
but as shown above they are different. Social and biological kinship can be diverse as shown by
the following:
Ø Fostering: describes a situation in which the natural children of one set of parents are
revised for a temporary and limited period by other adults. Among the Gonja of Northern
Ghana, this fostering was often undertaken by relatives, whereas in Britain foster parents
are usually unrelated to their charges and are even of a different ethnic or racial category
(Cheater 1986:129).
Ø Formal adoption: carries the fostering situation into a changed legal context, transferring
parental responsibilities permanently and irrevocably from the natural to the adoptive par-
ent. In anthropology there is a distinction between the biological father (gentor) and the
social father (pater). Among the Shona of Zimbabwe the wife of an impotent man could, in
great secrecy, be impregnated by one of his brothers and he becomes the pater. In the
same way we have distinguished the gentor and pater, there is a difference between the
mater and genetrix as social and biological mothers respectively.
Ø Ghost marriages: this is where a man raises seed with his bereaved sister in law on behalf
of his deceased brother. He does not enter into a new marriage with the widow and the
children resulting from this are regarded by society as those of his deceased brother. An
example is the Nuer of Sudan.
Ø Levirite: in some societies, if a married man dies his place is automatically taken by the
younger brother who takes responsibility for the children and mother. He becomes socially
responsible as husband and father.

If we ask why these marital devices are necessary, a materialist explanation seems somewhat
lame. Why should it be necessary to ascribe paternity so evenly in society? The answer lies in the
ideological realm of patriliny. A man without sons does not become an ancestor and his name is
forgotten. He might as well never have existed in the social obliteration that follows his death. No
man wants to face such a future and in the same way it might also be necessary for naturally
barren women to manipulate social motherhood.
Activity 3.1 "

1. Define kinship...........................................................
2. Using this definition, try to explain the type of kinship system that exists
in your community................................................................
3.2.1 Descent
As a jural concept, descent refers to the rules by which kinship groups are composed. Descent
in English simply means ‘coming down from’. In the concept of kinship it refers to a relationship
with an ancestor. It refers only to relationships that are jurally and legally recognised. All births do
not constitute valid links of descent. In some societies children whose parents have not been
married according to accepted legal or religious specifications do not fit the cultural logic of
descent. Thus mating, birth and nurturance are ambiguous human experiences and culturally
constructed systems of kinship.
Ø Agnatic/patrilineal descent: If a person takes his or her membership in a descent unit

from the father in the first instance and thereafter traces descent relationships only through
men, the rule of descent is agnatic or patrilineal.
Ø Uterine/matrilineal descent: if on the other hand group membership is acquired from

the mother and descent links are traced through the mother’s female kin, the rule of de-
scent is matrilineal.
Ø Cognatic (bilineal) descent: there are some, relatively rare cases of societies where an
individual belongs simultaneously to both a patrilineage and matrilineage. Such societies
are found in parts of Nigeria and Sudan as well as Pacific Islands such as Yap. They are
referred to as dual descent systems.
Ø Parallel descent: a very rare system of descent in which males identify descent through
their fathers and girls from their mothers for example the Saha of Columbia.

In addition to defining the rules by which individuals are ascribed to kin groups, descent also
defines the ascriptive rules by which property is inherited and people succeed to political office.
Concerning these two issues there is a wide range of different practices in patrilineal systems. The
rules of inheritance range from conserving the property by leaving it as a single, normally male
heir often the first born son in systems of primogeniture but occasionally the last born in ultimo-
geniture. It might also be through the partition among all sons whilst in Islamic systems in which all
daughters also receive half shares of their father’s estate. The rules of succession to office are
often simpler than those governing the inheritance of property because unlike property political
office cannot be fragmented.
Activity 3.2 "

1. What is descent?..................................................................
2. Outline various forms of descent. In which one do you belong.......
..........................................................................................
Ø Complimentary filiations: This is a relationship between a child and the parent from
whom he or she does not trace descent. In societies based on cognatic or bilateral descent
where all kin relationships count equally and lineages are rare, the concept of complemen-
tary filiation is irrelevant.
3.2.2 Cor porpora a teness

Talk of patrilineal or matrilineal descent focuses attention on the kind of social groups created by
this pattern of descent: the lineage. A lineage is composed of all those people who believe they
can specify the parent child links that connect them to one another through a common ancestor.
Typically, lineages vary in size from 20 to 100 or more. The most important feature of lineages is
that they are corporate in organisation. That is, a lineage has single legal identity such that to
outsiders, all members of the lineage are equal in law to all others. Lineages are also corporate in
that they control property such as land or herds. They provide a basis for mutual aid with their
members helping one another in anything. They may serve aggressive or defensive ends, func-
tioning as military units to raiding or vengeance parties. In some instances kin groups function as
political bodies, lobbying groups or even primary administrative units of a society.
Radcliffe-Brown (1950:41 in Cheater 1986) identified three criteria by which corporateness

may be assessed: occasional collective action, formal leadership of a group by its accepted
representative and spokesman; and the group’s possession and control of property. Two addi-
tional criteria can be added to this list. However, group action for defence and vengeance seems
merely to be a special case of Radcliffe-Brown first criterion of collective action and to apply the
criterion of exogamy would exclude many Islamic groupings that use marriage within the
patrilineage as a means of consolidating control over lineage property that Quranic rules of par-
tible inheritance tend to fragment. Among the Yako both the patriclans and matriclans controlled

property as groups and were represented in their relations with similar units by heads or leaders.
In addition the matrilineage was exogamous but the eponama or patrilineage was involved in
collective action, through co residence and labour co-operation, much more frequently than the
matrilineage oriented to ritual action. In the end then, it is not surprising that this greater cohesive-
ness was translated into dominance over the matrilineage. This case study offers an example of
how kinship groups can be organised into corporate groups and how issues of power can be
played out between the different groups.
Activity 3.3 "

1. Outline the ways in which your kinship group can be considered
corporate in nature? ......
...............................................................................
2. Outline the various elements within your kinship system that makes it
corporate in nature............................................................................
........................................................................................
3.2.3 Clans
These are large groups found in different unilineal descent groups. Members of the clans claim to
be descended from a common ancestor even though they may be unable to demonstrate such
descent. This common ancestor can have lived many generations ago and in some cases a mythi-
cal being. Clans having patrilineal descent are called patriclans and those with matrilineal are
called matriclans. Clans differ from lineages in that their membership is based on fictive descent
that is they can not accurately determine their descent. Clans are not localised groups but are
highly dispersed that is they live in different areas.
Totemism: The term totem refers to an animal, plant or object that is especially valued by a
particular group. There are certain rules governing a totem such as not killing or eating it whilst
some clans maybe named after their totem. Among the Shona a person is not allowed to eat meat
from an animal which is their totem. For example those with a totem of elephant can not eat
elephant meat and they give respect to the animal. They are often called by their totem and see
people of the same totem as kin even if they do not have biological relations.
3.3 Marriage
Whilst there is no universally agreed definition of marriage attempts have been made to define it
in terms of its function. Marriage thus can for example be defined as an institution that organises
and controls the exchange of sexual rights. This definition however does not allow for the varied
and complex relationships that occur in different societies across the globe. Marriage can be

described as a way of legitimatising offspring but among the Wambo of Namibia an initiated girl
can have legitimate children without being married. Below are the most common forms of mar-
riage:
Ø Monogamy – is the marriage of one man and one woman exclusively. Each partner can
only remarry after divorce or death of the other.
Ø Polygamy – is a marriage in which a person is married to more than one partner at the
same time. There are two forms of polygamy namely polygyny and polyandry. Polygyny
is a marriage involving one man and two or more women. The wives maybe unrelated or
related. A marriage between two sisters is called sororal polygyny and is favoured by
societies such as the Shona because they believe that the close ties of the sisters promote
peace in the household. However the Xhosa prohibit it because it leads to jealousy and
tension between sisters. Polyandry is a marriage involving one woman and two or more
men. There are two types of polyandry: Fraternal polyandry where a woman is married to
two brothers and heterogeneous polyandry where the husbands are not related.
3.3.1 Mar ria

riagg e r ules
Marriage rules can be broadly put into two categories positive and negative rules.
a) Negative rules: these are rules which define those whom, in any given society, one may
not marry. There are in two varieties:
Ø Incest prohibitions – these vary from one society to the other and specifically forbid
sexual intercourse and therefore marriage. Sexual relations are prohibited between speci-
fied individuals such as parents and their children or children of the same parents. Father-
daughter or sister-brother incest is not uncommon for example in ancient Egypt the ruler
was required to marry his full sister. The reasons for human prohibitions on incest are more
social and political than biological as Levi-Strauss (1969:481 in Cheater 1986) notes, ‘the
prohibition of incest is less a rule prohibiting marriage with mother, sister or daughter, than
a rule obliging the mother, sister or daughter to be given to others. It is the supreme rule of
the gift...’
Ø Rules of exogamy – these rules define categories of people who are marriageable. The
punishment for having illicit sexual intercourse with an unmarriageable person can be se-
vere for example in the Trobriands the penalty for incestuous liaison was ritual suicide. The
rules of exogamy are social and arbitrary. For example in most Nguni societies one may
not marry any member of the clans of one’s four grandparents whilst the Swazi permit
marriage into three of these clans. Among the Lovedu of South Africa a father’s brother’s
child is unmarriageable whereas a mother’s brother’s child is.
b) Positive rules: these rules define those whom, in any given society, one may marry. There
are in two varieties:

Ø Preferential marriage – the Lovedu not only define the mother’s brother’s daughter as
marriageable. They prefer such a marriage to other possibilities because, they say, it helps
to ‘knit together’ and recreate ties of descent among kin who with the passage of the
generations in a patrilineal system, are growing apart. Preferential rules of sister exchange
may create similarly cohesive, ongoing relations between specific descent groups. Among
Muslims they prefer that a man marry his father’s brother’s daughter. Quranic inheritance
divides a man’s property equally among his sons and gives half shares to all of his daugh-
ters thus preferential treatment allows for a reconsolidation of property within kingroups.
Ø Endogamy – lineage endogamy includes marriage to the father’s brother’s daughter how-
ever marriage within a specified group is not often focused on descent groups. The two
classic examples are sub caste endogamy in India (jati) and racial endogamy in South
Africa.
Activity 3.4 "

1. Define the term marriage.......................................................
2. What are positive marriage rules?....................................................
....................................................................................
3. What are negative marriage rules?.........................................
. ...............................................................................................
4. Explain the marriage rules operating in your culture? Have they changed
over time and what is their relevance?
3.3.2 Mar riariagg e pa yments

payments
Bride price describes services or goods given by a groom to his bride’s family before a union is
socially recognised. You should note that such a practice is not ‘purchase’ because an economic
purchase ends after the final transaction without any residual obligation whilst bride wealth trans-
fer generates a never ending current of obligations and counter obligations. Characteristics of
bride price include the following. There must be a giving end and a receiving end. The acceptance
of the wealth by the receiving end means acceptance of certain obligations
- Services and non economic goods may form part and parcel of the things given
- The giving of gifts and rendering of services may continue as long as the marriage contin-
ues.
- The gift is fixed by custom but may fluctuate in economic terms depending on some factors
such as availability of suitable brides and people’s attitude towards wealth
- Divorce strains and breaks marriage and in most cases part or all of the bride price has to
be refunded.
Evans Pritchard (in Cheater 1986) notes that bride wealth, ‘is a technique for creating new social
relations of durability and frequency between persons...a mechanism by which marriage groups

come into being’. Bride wealth is effective machinery for creating new relationships and acquiring
new statuses and roles whereby new patterns of behaviour are set up between two unrelated
families. The change of roles and statuses disturbs the existing structure; bride wealth tends to
establish a new equilibrium by giving confidence to the losing end. Several rights are transferred
to the husband with bride wealth. These rights in genetricem, that is, rights over her sexual,
domestic and economic services. The wife gets rights of co-residence in the husband’s lineage.
The transfer of these rights is expressed and symbolised in the goods given for example the ‘hair’
and ‘skirt’ cow refers to sexual rights. Bride wealth is accompanied with ritual ceremonies in
which the lineage’s unity and solidarity is expressed. Cattle legitimate the children and no mar-
riage can be legalised without cattle.
Among the Nuer the ideal family is the polygamous type; outside the group kinship relations are
translated into the idiom of cattle. The Nuer have several methods ranging from simple marriage
to concubinage. Divorce is not uncommon and it usually happens at the preliminary stage of the
marriage when the bride is still in her parents’ home waiting for the first child. If divorce takes
place when no child has been conceived all the cattle except the cow of the ‘hair’ and ‘skirt’ must
be returned, unless they have died a natural death. If the bride dies after the birth of first child only
the cattle due to her extra family kinsmen are returned; after bearing two children no cattle are
returned. The bearing of children is one of the stabilising factors in Nuer marriage. Murdering a
person leads to a compensation of forty cattle, same as marriage. These cattle are used for
marrying a wife for the dead man – ghost marriage. A husband does not compensate for killing his
wife.
Activity 3.5 "

1. What function do marriage payments perform?................................
2. In what forms were the payments traditionally?................
3. What is used as marriage payments in your culture?.............................
4. Using your culture as an example analyse the issues involved in the
monetisation of marriage payments.............................................
3.3.3 Types of mar marriaria

riagg e among the Fulani of Nor ther n Nig eria
Nigeria
There are various ways in which families come into being among the Fulani namely betrothal
marriage, contract marriage, gift marriage, widow inheritance and married woman concubinage.
Ø Betrothal marriage: when an infant boy is born he is given a calf. At ten he is circumcised
and becomes a herd boy and more calves are added to him as he grows up. He is be-
trothed to an infant who should preferably be his patrilineal cross/parallel cousin. At mar-
riage he transfers two bulls to his in-laws of which one is slaughtered and meat shared
between the two lineages. Bride joins her husband but goes back to her parents for two
years when she falls pregnant to give birth. If the husband marries another wife during this
period a ceremonial expression of conflict is held in which the first wife whips the new wife.

Ø Contract marriage: it has several meanings but among the pastoral Fulani, it describes a
marriage made by a man on his own responsibility; or a marriage in which the partners
have previously undergone betrothal marriage with others; or a marriage in which they are
not virgins. It is not as ceremonious as betrothal marriage and a bull may be transferred
and some payment made to settle any previous marriage of the bride.
Ø Gift marriage: in this type of marriage bride wealth is not given but the marriage is con-
ducted along Muslim rites. The bride is given as a gift to the groom who may or may not
give a gift in return as a sign of gratitude.
Ø Widow inheritance: it depends on the rights of the lineage group in the fertility of its
women. A young brother is bound to take over the wife or wives of his dead brother, even
for a short period. There is no feast or marriage payment. If a widow declines to be
inherited, she may marry a man of her choice but if she is childless some cattle might be
claimed back.
Ø Escape marriage: this marriage is one in which the previous union has not been properly
dissolved by any authority or by payment of compensation or by a declaration of release.
A woman or betrothed girl may leave her husband and marry someone else without any
formal divorce. This is a mechanism to avoid betrothal marriage and it can function as a
safety valve to reduce conflicts caused by betrothal marriage.
3.3.4 Ar r ang ement of rresidence

angement esidence after mar ria riagge
After marriage the new couple has to find a place to live and different societies have different
ways of organising residence after marriage. Below are the most common patterns of residence:
Ø Patrilocal or virilocal residence: common among patrilineal societies and is when the
married couple lives with or near the kin group of the husband.
Ø Matrilocal or uxorilocal residence: common among matrilineal societies and is when the
married couple lives with or near the kin group of the wife.
Ø Bilocal residence: this arrangement involves the couple living alternately with the husband’s
or wife’s kingroup for a fixed period.
Ø Avunculocal residence: the married couple resides with or near the husband’s maternal
uncle.
Ø Neolocal residence: the newly married couple in this instance resides in an entirely sepa-
rate area from their kin. In this case the new family is independent from the control and
authority of both the husband’s and wife’s kin groups.

Activity 3.6 "

1. Explain the various residence arrangements for newly married
couples..........
2. How is residence for newly weds organised within your society?
........................
3.4 Friendship and voluntary associations

These are unascribed relationships, roles and statutes. There is a fundamental difference between
societies that are structured by ascriptive relationships and those based on achieved positions.
Meritocracies tend to be more open and permit easier mobility among song positions than those
based on caste, age or unilineal descent, even though class status tend towards ascription in the
initial instance and maybe reinforced through socialisation and education. There are a number of
processes that contribute toward breaking down the bases on which ascriptive systems work.
Among the most important of these processes are industrialisation, urbanisation, religious con-
version and peasantisation (regular production of surplus for commercial marketing rather than
subsistence purposes). In acquiring new skills and fostering new lifestyles, these processes per-
mit new achievements – new forms and greater degrees of wealth; new and different opportuni-
ties of leadership, alternative forms of rank, status and prestige and new ways of achieving social
honour and respectability. We therefore witness the growth of voluntary social relationships in
new institutional settings.
Voluntary relations are thus institutionalised in the sense of being governed by agreed rules all
voluntary relations are thus bureaucratised in the sense of being organised into formal associa-
tions. Where voluntary associations emerge, they replicate the larger bureaucratic structure, copying
its main organisational features. They too have formal constitutions, elected leadership, specified
objectives and identifiable sub groupings. However whether or not voluntary relationships are
bureaucratised in this way is a matter of choice.
Cheater (1986) highlights the English saying that ‘you can choose your friends and not your
relatives’ thus distinguishing voluntary and ascribed relationships. In many societies, however
friendship is not totally voluntary as outlined below:
Ø Bond friendship: has often been confused with kinship (pseudo kinship or ritual kinship or
blood brotherhood) precisely because of its contractual, ascriptive and sometimes heredi-
tary nature.
Ø In what has been termed ‘joking relationships’ between tribal categories in Central Africa,
individuals may not take offence at licensed insults directed against them. Whether such
relationships qualify as friendship is open to question but they are ascribed not voluntary.

Friendship as with all social behaviour is to some extent instrumental in that friends interact with
one another in pursuit of personal goals such as a sense of worth. This instrumentality is evident
when it is concerned with economic cooperation, political support and the like. For example
among the Amazonian Brazil, a formal form of friendship known anchiwawa all expected to
engage in the mutual exchange of goods, often including their most valuable possessions (ham-
mocks, rifles and vessels).
Activity 3.7 "

1. Describe voluntary associations.....................
2. Using examples analyse how friendship is not totally voluntary...............
3.5 Conclusion
The unit has discussed the concepts of kinship and marriage and how they are used in various
cultures across the world. Kinship and marriage are socially constructed concepts as shown by
the diverse meanings that they have in different societies. You should now be able to understand
how they relate to your own society. You should be able to relate this unit to Unit Two in this
module on Culture and Society because kinship and marriage are both cultural elements. The unit
has equipped you with basic knowledge on how various societies organise marriage payments
giving examples such as among the Fulani in Nigeria. Now turn to the next unit and keep in mind
that the concepts outlined here are related to all topics within this module.


Unit 4 Religion
Unit 4
RELIGION
4.0 Introduction
In this unit, you will learn about the religious experience in general and some of its variations
around the world. The focus will be on the types of religious beliefs and their functions. A religion
is a system of beliefs usually involving the worship of supernatural forces or beings. Religious
beliefs provide shape and meaning to one’s perception of the universe. In other words, they
provide a sense of order in what might otherwise be seen as a chaotic existence.
4.1 Objectives
!
After going through this unit you should be able to:
Ø Define religion and its functions in various communities around the world;
Ø Analyse the importance of religious beliefs to society;
Ø Evaluate various religious practice and their anthropological basis.
4.2 What is religion?

In Religion as a Cultural System Clifford Geertz (in Onwuejeogwu, 1975) suggests a definition
of religion as “A system of symbols which act to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting
moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and
clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem
uniquely realistic.” In Religion: Problems of Definition and Explanation Melford Spiro (in
Onwuejeogwu, 1975) presents a definition of religion as “an institution consisting of culturally
patterned interaction with culturally postulated superhuman beings”. He presents a reductionist

and individualist view of religion, where causality is fairly strictly individual => religion => society.
He argues (against functionalist explanations of religion) that an unintended consequence of reli-
gion cannot be a reason for its existence. Now while this is clearly true of religion considered as
a conscious behaviour system, it hardly seems true in general. R.E. Bradbury’s (in Onwuejeogwu,
1975) Fathers, Elders and Ghosts in Edo Religion is a structuralist study of the role ancestor
worship plays in Edo social structures. The basic idea is that relationships between the living and
the dead and between different classes of ghosts and spirits are projections of the social organisation
of the living. It is suggested the oppositions considered in the essay are just part of a more
abstract order which can be used to classify a much wider range of human experience.
4.2.1 Psychological and social functions of religion

Religions fulfil psychological needs. They help us confront and explain death. They help relieve
our fears and anxieties about the unknown. Supernatural powers and beings may be appealed to
or manipulated by people in times of crisis, as for example in praying to win a battle or survive a
fierce storm. Religions help ease the stress during personal life crises such as birth, marriage,
serious illness, and death. It is not a coincidence that in most societies the “rites of passage” that
are performed to help people adjust to these often highly emotional transitions are strongly reli-
gious. We also get psychological relief from “divinely given” moral codes. They lift some of the
burden of decision making from our shoulders in difficult situations because they tell us what is
right and wrong. Knowing what to do without having to think deeply about it provide tremen-
dous psychological relief.
Religions also fulfil social needs. They can be powerful, dynamic forces in society. By reinforc-
ing group norms, they help bring about social homogeneity. They can provide a basis for com-
mon purpose and values that can help maintain social solidarity. A uniformity of beliefs help bind
people together and reinforces group identity. In most societies, religions play an important role
in social control by defining what is right and wrong behaviour. If individuals do the right things in
life, they may earn the approval of the gods. If they do the wrong things, they may suffer super-
natural retribution. For instance, the most sacred text of Islam, the Koran not only provides
detailed lists of specific kinds of crimes and appropriate earthly punishments, but it also gives
descriptions of how to do mundane tasks such as eating specific kinds of food. The sacred texts
of religions usually set precedents for proper behaviour in common situations. The Judeo-Chris-
tian Bible stories of Adam and Eve, Cane and Able, Noah, Job, Moses, Solomon, and even
Jesus provide examples of how virtuous people should lead their lives. It does not matter whether
the sacred stories or myths of a religion actually occurred in every detail—they are still illustrative
of correct thought and behaviour.
Activity 4.1 "

1. Examine the various definitions of religion......................
2. Which one do you think aptly describe what religion is and
why?.............................................
3. Using your own religion as an example, access the functions religion
plays in your society?................................................
Unit 4 Religion
4.3 Religion, magic and morality

Onwuejeogwu (1975:225) notes that sociologists and anthropologists have adopted three views
concerning religion.
i. Religion is different from magic (Durkheim);
ii. Religion is a continuum between manipulation and communion (Nadel and Horton);
iii. Religion and magic are one, and indistinguishable in so far as every religious rite has some
elements of magic in it.
Durkheim holds that in every society a twofold division of the world exists: the profane and the
sacred. He defines religion as beliefs and practices related to the sacred which unite into one
single moral community, called a church, all those who adhere to them. Magic belongs to the
profane and has no moral community. Magic is practical and aims at compulsion instead of
supplication. Since religion refers to the sacred, Durkheim considers that society is sacred
symbolised in the notion of God. Society thus worships itself and religion therefore symbolizes
the expression of solidarity of the society. Durkheim has been criticised on the grounds that the
profane and sacred are not universal concepts. Religion does not always bind people together; it
may even be the cause of disintegration. There is thus a relationship between religion and magic
as every religious system has some elements of magic. They belong to the same system and are
interdependent.
Activity 4.2 "

1. Using different religions in your society evaluate the efficacy of
Durkheim’s ideas on religion.............
4.4 Common elements of religion

One of the hallmarks of religion is a belief in supernatural beings and forces. They can take a
variety of forms, not all of which are found in every religion. The belief usually falls into one of five
categories: animatism; animism; ancestral spirits; gods or goddesses and minor supernatural be-
ings.
4.4.1 Ancestral spirits

One special category of spirit found in the belief system of most cultures consists of the souls or
ghosts of ancestors. A belief in ancestral spirits is consistent with the widespread conviction that
humans have at least two parts—a physical body and some kind of non-physical spirit or soul.
The spirit portion is generally believed to be freed from the body by death and continues to exist
in some form. Ancestral spirits are often seen as retaining an active interest and even member-

ship in their family and society. Like living people, they can have emotions, feelings, and appe-
tites. They must be treated well to assure their continued good will and assistance to the
living. Sometimes, as in the case of the Bantu – speaking peoples of Southern Africa, there is a
vague idea of a distinction between a person’s body, spirit or shadow. They believe that humans
are composed of three entities: the body, the soul (life force) and the spirit. When a person dies
the latter two entities leave their body and continue to exist as a single entity and it is this entity
that influences the living. The deceased live among the ancestors and among the Shona to these
ancestors they give supplications and in turn the ancestors give the requests to Musikavanhu
(God). The ancestors thus form a link between the living and God.
In China, ancestral spirits are often thought of as still being active family members. They are
treated warmly with respect and honour. Traditional Chinese families in rural villages often set a
place at feast tables for their ancestors as if they were still living. If treated well, the ancestral
spirits may help their living descendants have bigger crops, do better in business, or achieve other
desirable goals because they are still interested in the well being of the family. In European
cultures, the spirits of dead ancestors are usually not thought of so kindly. The dead and their
spirits have been seen historically as dangerous. They haunt the living and often do unpleasant,
frightening, and unpredictable things. Ghosts or spirits are feared and avoided because of the
danger inherent in encounters with them. In some cultures, people eat parts of the body of dead
relatives or mix their cremated ashes in water and drink it. This mortuary cannibalism is intended
to allow the dead to remain part of their living family. For the Yanomamö and some other low-
land forest peoples of South America, not consuming the ashes of their relatives would be ex-
tremely unkind and insensitive.
Activity 4.3 "

1. Examine how people within your community view the dead?..........
2. Describe the various ways of ancestral worship as practised by various
groups in your country..............................................................
4.4.2 Animatism
A belief in a supernatural power not part of supernatural beings is referred to as animatism. For
those who hold this belief, the power is usually impersonal, unseen, and potentially everywhere.
It is neither good nor evil, but it is powerful and dangerous if misused. It is something like
electricity or “the force” in the Star Wars movies. Animatism is a widespread belief, especially in
small-scale societies. Among the Polynesian cultures of the South Pacific, this power is com-
monly known as “mana”. For them it is a force that is inherent in all objects, plants, and animals
(including people) to different degrees. Some things or people have more of it than others and
are, therefore, potentially dangerous. For instance, a chief may have so much of it that he must
be carried around all of the time. If he were to walk on the ground, sufficient residual amounts of
his mana might remain in his footprints to harm ordinary people if they later stepped on them.
Volcanoes and some other places were thought to have concentrated mana and were, therefore,
very dangerous.

Unit 4 Religion
4.4.3 Animism
A belief that natural objects are animated by spirits is animism. The term comes from the Latin
word for soul (anima). This belief can take diverse forms. Things in nature may all have within
them different spirits—each rock, tree, and cloud may have its own unique spirit. Alternatively,
all things in nature may be thought of as having the same spirit. This latter version of animism was
characteristic of many Native American cultures. In both forms of animism, the spirits are thought
of as having identifiable personalities and other characteristics such as gender. A belief in a
powerful, mature, protective “mother nature” is an example. The spirits may be benevolent,
malevolent, or neutral. They can be lovable, terrifying, or even mischievous. They can interact
with humans and can be pleased or irritated by human actions. Therefore, people must be
concerned about them and will try to avoid displeasing them.
Initially, animatism and animism may seem to be the same thing. In fact both beliefs are often
found in the same culture. The difference, however, is that the “power” of animatism does not
have a personality—it is an impersonal “it” rather than a “he” or “she” with human-like character-
istics. Spirits are individual supernatural beings with their own recognizable traits.
4.4.4 Gods and Goddesses

Most religions maintain a belief in powerful supernatural beings with individual identities and
recognizable attributes. These beings are usually thought of as gods or goddesses. Another
term for them is deities. Like spirits, they have individual identities and recognizable attributes.
However, gods and goddesses are more powerful than spirits and other lesser supernatural
beings—they can effectively alter all of nature and human fortunes. As a result, they are com-
monly worshipped and requests are made of them to help in times of need. Religions differ in the
number of gods that their followers believe exist. A belief that there is only one god is referred to
as monotheism. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are examples of monotheistic religions. In
contrast, a belief in more than one god is known as polytheism. Hinduism is a polytheistic
religion.
When there are many gods in a religion, they are typically ranked relative to each other in terms
of their powers and their interests. The supreme god is often an otiose deity. That is, he or she
established the order of the universe at the beginning of time and is now remote from earthly
concerns (“otiose” is Greek for “at rest). As a result, otiose deities may be almost ignored in
favour of lesser gods who take an interest in the everyday affairs of humans now. The simple
distinction between monotheism and polytheism may be deceptive. The truth can be much more
complex. For instance, some scholars have argued that monotheisms, such as Catholicism, are
actually de facto polytheisms for many of the faithful. From this perspective, Jesus, the Virgin
Mary, and the saints are prayed to for guidance and help as if they were minor gods themselves.
While the Christian God is considered all powerful, he is often not the one who is turned to by
Catholics during life crises. Perhaps, this is because he is essentially an otiose deity for them.
Hinduism is also more complex than it may seem initially. In India and Bali, Hindus can be
observed fervently worshipping hundreds of different gods. This fits the classic description of a

polytheistic religion. However, since the many gods are only different manifestations of the Su-
preme Being, or Bhagavan, Hinduism can also be interpreted as monotheism. It all depends on
whether you are talking to a rural peasant farmer or an educated priest.
Activity 4.4 "

1. List all the gods in your religion and the powers attributed them.........
2. What function do the gods serve?................
4.4.5 Minor super na naturtur al beings

tural
Minor supernatural beings are not spirits, gods, humans, or other natural beings. People do not
pray to them for help. Yet these beings have some supernatural capabilities. In Western Euro-
pean folk tradition, leprechauns, elves, and pixies were minor supernatural beings. They were
human-like in appearance and personality but could do things that were beyond the abilities of
humans. Minor supernatural beings often have a “trickster” role. That is to say, they fool people,
do outlandish things, and disappear. For instance, many rural people in Ireland in the past be-
lieved that elves steal boy children. As a result, mothers clothed their young sons in dresses and
let their hair grow long like girls to avoid their being taken. Tricksters are frequently neither good
nor bad. They do what they want and are often trouble makers. For the Indians of Western
North America, coyote usually had such a trickster role in popular stories. For instance, he
would skillfully disarm powerful people with his words and then magically steal what they valued
most when their guard was down. In most cultures, tricksters are small, quick moving animals.
In India, the trickster is usually a mouse, and in Africa it is a spider. Among the Native cultures of
the Americas in which coyote did not fulfil the trickster role, it was usually a bird such as a raven.
Tricksters are still popular in the high tech, industrialized societies of the modern world.
4.5 Religious leaders

All societies have individuals whose job it is to guide or supplement the religious practices of
others. These religious leaders may be one of three different types—priest, shaman, or prophet.
In reality, some individuals may at times have the functions of more than one of these categories.
Priest: A religious leader who is part of an organized religion is considered to be a priest or

priestess. Of course, different religions have different terms for these individuals—they may be
known as rabbis, ministers, mullahs, Imams, or something else. These individuals are the keep-
ers of the sacred law and tradition. They are found mostly in large-scale societies.
Priests are authorized by priesthood, or some other religious organization, to perform religious
rituals designed to influence the supernatural world and to guide the believers in their religious
practices. Priests personally do not have supernatural powers at their command.

Unit 4 Religion
Priests are initiated and ceremonially inducted members of an established religious organization.
That is, they are members of priesthood. Their rank and function results from holding a religious
office held by others before them.
Shaman: A shaman is a person who is not part of an organized religion and is in direct contact
with the spirit world, usually through a trance state. A shaman has spirit helpers at his or her
command to carry out curing, divining, and bewitching. Shamanistic power is acquired individu-
ally, usually in physical and/or mental solitude and isolation from other humans. Spirits or some
other supernatural entities are revealed to the shaman and he or she learns how to control them.
A shaman is essentially a religious entrepreneur who acts for human clients. He or she intervenes
on behalf of a human client to influence supernatural beings to perform some act such as curing an
illness or discovering the cause of an unexpected death. The shaman essentially acts as a middle-
man in this. In contrast, a priest’s clients are the gods. A priest tells people what to do. A
shaman tells the supernatural beings what to do. However, both shamans and priests are paid for
their services with material things and/or prestige.
Shamans are common in small-scale societies. However, they do not completely disappear in
large-scale societies that have organized religions. For example, in the Philippines and in some
American Philippine communities, there are individuals who perform “spirit surgery.” Evangeli-
cal Christian “faith healers” somewhat fit the definition of a shaman also. It depends on what they
believe is the source of their “power.” They are shamans if they personally have power to
compel their God to cure people.
Prophet: A prophet is an individual who receives divine revelation concerning a restructuring of

religion and usually of society as well. They call for dramatic change while priesthoods usually
act as conservative forces in preserving long-standing traditions. Not surprisingly, prophets are
usually outside of the priesthood and are seen by priests as irritating, disruptive trouble-makers.
It is not unusual for prophets to come from humble or unknown origins.
When Jews and Christians think of prophets, people like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel
usually come to mind. However, the most striking example of a biblical prophet was Jesus. He
essentially came out of nowhere as prophets often do and insisted on a radical restructuring of
Judaism. If a prophet is successful in convincing enough people that he or she is right, a new
religion is usually established. That was the case with Mohamed and the beginning of Islam.
Likewise, Joseph Smith’s divine revelation and subsequent prophetic teaching in the 1830’s and
early 1840’s led to the creation of the Church of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons).
Activity 4.5 "

1. List the various religious leaders and their duties.......................................
2. Which leaders outlined above are involved in your religion? What other
names do you give to religious leaders and explain their
functions?.................................................

4.6 Religious communication

The focus here is on the interaction between humans and the supernatural and also with regard to
religious interaction between people. Communication is a two way process which is reciprocal
thus the supernatural speaks to people and vice versa. There is a distinction between revelation,
where the supernatural takes the initiative to communicative with humans and ritual as a human
activity directed at the supernatural. Prayer for example is not a means of revelation but an act of
communication with supernatural initiated by humans.
4.6.1 Revelation
Knowledge of the supernatural is imparted to and acquired by humans in various ways. We are
not interested in whether this knowledge is true or false but in how beliefs function in different
cultural systems.
Ø Myths: A myth is a narrative of events: this trait distinguishes myth from cosmological
ideas. It also has a sacred quality which is communicated in a symbolic form: this distin-
guishes myth from legend and folktales. Thirdly, some of the events and the objects that
occur in myth are not really found in our world. Fourthly the narrative refers to origins,
transmutations and transformations in dramatic form. Frazer (1918 in Onwuejeogwu 1975)
and Taylor (1871 in Onwuejeogwu, 1975) consider myth to be a form of explanation.
Cassirer (1961 in Onwuejeogwu, 1975) regards myth as a form of symbolic statement
that reflects a type of thought. Freud (1955 in Onwuejeogwu, 1975) treats myth as an
expression of the unconscious, a kind of daydream. Durkheim (1961 in Onwuejeogwu
1975) sees myth from its functional aspect of creating and maintaining social solidarity.
Malinowski in (Onwuejeogwu, 1975) sees myth as a charter that sanctions social institu-
tions whilst Leach (1954 in Onwuejeogwu 1975) treats it as a form of symbolic statement
about social structure. Malinowski (1948 in Cheater 1986) holds the view that rituals,
ceremonies and social organisation are the results of mythical events. Myths do not neces-
sarily explain but validates ideas. An example is the Hopi who fully realise that clouds
cause rain but still call them spirits and in times of drought hold rituals to appease them.
Ø Trancing and possession: Revelations also occur in altered states of consciousness such
as dreams, visions, trance and possession. In such a state one is aware but is different from
the ordinary such as meditating or under hypnosis. Such altered states are often ascribed
to the influence of the supernatural and they are interpreted differently in different societies.
· Dreams: Many people believe that dreams have a meaning in respective of the supernatu-
ral and there are many examples in the bible of dreams being used for revelation. Dreams
are regarded as sources of information about the future and are a means of communication
from the supernatural.
· Trance: This is a common technique used by shamans all over the world to enter the spirit
world. When they go into a trance, they commonly report that they are taking a journey in
which they must pass through difficult situations in order to reach their own spirit helpers.

Unit 4 Religion
Those friendly spirits then aid the shaman in curing an illness, bewitching someone, or in
some other supernatural way.
· . It is a sleep like state during which a person does not respond to stimuli in a normal way
and it can be induced in various ways such as drugs like marijuana or alcohol.
· Visions: Visions usually occur when awake or in a trance. One good example is Mohammed,
the prophet of Islam who was reportedly visited by angel Gabriel who presented to him
holy Koran book,
· Possession: In this case the individual is believed to be inhabited by and to become one
with an external power or spirit. Negative possession is possession by a devil or is con-
ceived as a form of illness. Positive possession occurs where someone is inhabited by
benevolent spirits such as in mediums and shamans. Among the Shona and Venda ances-
tral spirits reveal themselves through the possession of people.
Activity 4.6 "

1. What is revelation?..........................................................
2. Examine the various forms of revelation noting the most common within
your religion.................................
4.6.2 Rituals in religion

The performance of rituals is an integral part of all religions. Rituals are stylized and usually
repetitive acts that take place at a set time and location. They almost always involve the use of
symbolic objects, words, and actions. For example, going to church on Sunday is a common
religious ritual for Christians around the world. It usually requires the wearing of somewhat
different clothing and interacting with others in a particular manner in a sacred location. At the
heart of this experience is a sequence of traditional ritual acts that symbolically represent aspects
of the life, teachings, and death of Jesus. Pauw (1976:170) notes that rituals may be analysed
according to their form, meaning and function.
Ø The form of rituals: Rituals consist of a number of features namely actions, words, ob-
jects, participants, place and occasion:
· Actions: there are approved and disapproved ritual acts. Approved ritual acts are acts
that are sanctioned within the context of the culture in which they occur. They are sanc-
tioned and legitimated by societal institutions. Disapproved rituals acts are acts in which
supernatural powers are used to harm or kill other people or to cause damage to material
possessions. Actions such as kneeling, fasting, slaughtering animals, sexual intercourse or
brewing beer are all part of some ritual or another in different cultures. One example of
common ritual acts is the act of purification which consists of cleansing of the body from
dirt or from ritual impurity. Among Tamil Hindu in Natal persons in certain conditions,

referred to as having ‘bad dirt’ or ritual impurity may not participate in rituals such as
menstruating women. Sacrifice is another form of purification which refers to offering gifts
or killing an animal such as a fowl.
· Words: whilst some rituals are performed in silence others require certain speeches or
expressions and songs. For example the Shona of Zimbabwe uses song and dance in rain
making rituals.
· Object: objects and substances such as food, brewed beer, incense, flowers, snuff, drink
and an assortment of other implements are used in a variety of rituals. Snuff is a common
substance used in most Shona rituals. Most of the objects are everyday products but they
gain supernatural importance.
· Persons: rituals in which a whole society or community is involved, may be described as
common rituals. Clans or lineages maybe involved in kinship rituals. Other rituals are per-
formed on a voluntary basis such as the church. See section 4.6 below for religious leaders
involved in rituals.
· Place: rituals are usually performed in places of importance. Places such as churches,
temples, graves of ancestors, sacred places, rivers and mountains. For example among the
Plato Northern Sotho of South Africa rituals to the ancestral spirits are performed (go
phasa badimo) at shrines which are located in the courtyard in front of the huts.
· Occasion: rituals are usually done at regular intervals or when particular events occur such
as disasters or misfortunes. Among the Shona rainmaking ceremonies are performed when
drought threatens. Other rituals are performed during certain stages of life such as birth,
puberty, marriage or death. A distinction is therefore made between occasional rituals that
are not performed on a regular basis and cyclical rituals that are performed at certain
stages of a natural cycle.
Activity 4.7 "

1. What is a ritual?........................................................................
2. Discuss the form of rituals using examples from rituals in your own
religion..................
4.7 Men and morality

There are two ethical theories which we shall discuss before describing the relationship between
morality and social structure.
Ø Ethical absolutism: ethical absolutists are usually branded as right wing, old fashioned
and conservative. They believe that there is one eternally true and valid moral code that
applies to all men thus one law, one standard, one morality for all men. It developed from
Christian monotheism in which morality is conceived as issuing from God.
Ø Ethical relativists: developed from the decline of Christian beliefs and the development
of religious scepticism. Anthropologists such as Firth and Taylor (in Onwuejeogwu, 1975)

Unit 4 Religion
adhere to this left wing school of thought. Relativists argue that the moral judgements of
men are completely derived from the customs of the society in which they live, so that the
moral terms such as right and wrong or good or bad are socially constructed.
Ø Another school of thought which seeks to take the middle road is propagated by Ginsberg
(in Onwuejeogwu, 1975). Ginsberg criticises the relativist concept of morality defined by
Taylor as a man’s conformity to the customs of the society he belongs to. He argued that
this definition is narrow and proposes a wider one which would include the ‘ideal’ which is
above the conventional. Morality is universal in the sense that ‘everywhere we find rules of
conduct prescribing what is to be done or not to be done and some conception of a good
going beyond what is desired at the moment.’
Onwuejeogwu (1975) argues that moral systems vary greatly, mostly as a result of differences in
the social structure. It is the social structure that validates the morals, and not the very fluid morals
that validate the social structure as outlined by relativists.
4.8 Witchcraft and sickness

4.8.1 Magic as an explanation of illness
Most cultures of the world have religious beliefs that supernatural powers can be compelled, or
at least influenced, to act in certain ways for good or evil purposes by using ritual formulas.
These formulas are, in a sense, magic. By performing certain magical acts in a particular way,
crops might be improved, game herds replenished; illness cured or avoided animals and people
made fertile. For those who believe that magic is an effective method for causing supernatural
actions, there are two major ways in which this commonly believed to occur—sympathy and
contagion.
Sympathetic magic is based on the principle that “like produces like.” For instance, whatever
happens to an image of someone will also happen to them. This is the basis for use of Voodoo
dolls in the folk tradition of Haiti. If someone sticks a pin into the stomach of the doll, the person
of whom it is a likeness will be expected to experience a simultaneous pain in his or her stomach.
Sympathetic magic is also referred to as imitative magic. Contagious magic is based on the
principle that things or persons once in contact can afterward influence each other. In other
words, it is believed that there is a permanent relationship between an individual and any part of
his or her body. As a consequence, believers must take special precautions with their hair,
fingernails, teeth and cloth. If anyone obtained these objects, magic could be performed on them
which would cause the person they came from to be affected. For instance, someone could use
your fingernail clippings in a magical ritual that would cause you to love them or to fall ill and die.
According to Evans-Pritchard (1937 in Cheater 1986) witchcraft among the Azande is a sup-
posedly psychic emanation from the witchcraft substance which is believed to cause injury to
health and prosperity. The witchcraft substance is a material substance in the bodies of certain
persons. It is discovered by autopsy in the dead and by oracles in the living. Witchcraft in inher-

itable, for it is transmitted unineally from parent to child. Parents transfer witchcraft to a child of
the same sex. This means that if a man is accused of witchcraft his paternal kinsmen are also
suspected and they go to lengths of denying their involvement to an extent that they may deny
relations. Members of the ruling class are not accused of witchcraft although it is believed se-
cretly that some of them are and nobody ever consults oracles about them. The ruling class
controls the major oracle for detecting witches whilst the rich and court nobility are also immune.
Mostly neighbours who live together often accuse each other because only neighbours can envy
one another. Women usually accuse women and men accuse men. A witch does not immediately
kill his victim but death is in slow stages. Sudden sickness is attributed to sorcery. They are
several ways of finding out witchcraft such as witch-doctors, use of poison oracle and rubbing
board oracle.
Nadel (in Cheater 1986) in his comparative work on the Nupe and Gwari maintains that witch-
craft accusations act as a releasing mechanism for tensions inherent in the system of social rela-
tions. In societies in which magic and witchcraft are accepted as realities, mental illness is usually
explained as being a consequence of witchcraft or the actions of supernatural beings and forces.
In Nigeria, folk curers are licensed by the government to use supernatural means and herbal
remedies to cure people who are suffering from mental illness. Nigeria also licenses doctors
trained in Western medicine, which totally rejects the idea of illness being caused by magic or
other supernatural causes. However, the Western trained doctors and the folk curers in Nigeria
often work cooperatively and send each other patients that they cannot cure with their own
approaches. When witchcraft is a widespread belief in a society, it may be used as a means of
social control. Anti-social or otherwise deviant behavior often results in an individual being la-
beled as a witch in such societies. Since witches are feared and often ostracized or even killed
when discovered, the mere threat of being accused of witchcraft can be sufficient to force people
into modal behavior.
4.8.2 Context of witchcraft

In a belief system that uses magic as the most logical explanation for illness, accidents, and other
unexpected occurrences, there is no room for natural causes or chance. Witchcraft provides the
explanation--it can be the cause for most effects. Since it can be practiced in secret, the exist-
ence of witchcraft cannot be easily refuted with arguments. Believers are not dissuaded by
pointing out that there is no evidence that any witchcraft was used against them. For example,
you may wake up in the middle of the night and go to get a drink of water. On the way, you trip
over a chair in the dark, which causes you to break your leg. You may be convinced that it was
an accident. However, if you believe in witchcraft, you will ask why this accident happened to
you at that moment in time.
Magic practiced in secret by someone who wants to harm you is the answer. The only reason-
able questions are who performed the magic and why. The answers to these questions come
through divination which is a magical procedure by which the cause of a particular event or the
future is determined. Once the guilty person is discovered, retribution may be gained by public
exposure and punishment or by counter witchcraft. Divination is accomplished by many different

Unit 4 Religion
methods around the world. Shamans usually go into a trance to find out the answers from their
spirit helpers. The ancient Romans divined the outcome of battles or business deals by autopsy-
ing chickens and examining the condition of their livers.
Activity 4.8 "

1. Analyse the relationship between magic, witchcraft and
religion................
2. Explain how magic and witchcraft can be used as an explanation for
misfortune and sickness...........................................
3. What are the functions of witchcraft belief? ................
4.9 Conclusion
This unit has discussed the various elements of religion and how these are part of a society’s
cultural belief system. It tried to offer varied examples of how different communities organise
their belief systems. You are now able to have an appreciation of other religious belief systems
and how they function for the benefit of the societies in which they are practised. All societies
have belief or religious systems and thus it is important that for you as a student of anthropology
to understand how these societies view spiritual and supernatural issues. The unit has thus given
you a foundation to be able to do this.


Unit 5 Ethnicity And Race
Unit 5
ETHNICITY AND RACE
5.0 Introduction
The goal of this unit is to help you objectively analyze the phenomena of race and ethnicity as well
as some of the world wide patterns of discrimination based on them. In doing this, it is important
to suspend our own biases as much as possible and to take a cultural relativity approach. That is
to say, we must not let our own cultural biases get in the way of understanding the lives of other
people. This is a very difficult task given the emotionally charged feelings and deep beliefs that
most people have concerning race and ethnicity. However, suspending these attitudinal barriers
in order to gain a better understanding of the phenomena is worth the effort. In this unit, the
importance of anthropological approaches to the study of ethnicity will be emphasised. Through
its dependence on long-term fieldwork, anthropology has the advantage of generating first-hand
knowledge of social life at the level of everyday interaction. To a great extent, this is the locus
where ethnicity is created and re-created.
Ethnicity emerges and is made relevant through ongoing social situations and encounters, and
through people’s ways of coping with the demands and challenges of life. From its vantage-point
right at the centre of local life, social anthropology is in a unique position to investigate these
processes. Anthropological approaches also enable us to explore the ways in which ethnic rela-
tions are being defined and perceived by people; how they talk and think about their own group
as well as other groups, and how particular world-views are being maintained or contested.
Thirty-five of the thirty-seven major armed conflicts in the world in 1991 were internal conflicts,
and most of them - from Sri Lanka to Northern Ireland - could plausibly be described as ethnic
conflicts.

5.1 Objectives
!
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
Ø Critically analyze the concept of ethnicity and how it relates to race;
Ø Examine various ethnic categorizations from across the world;
Ø Explain various forms of discrimination.
5.2 Defining ethnicity

Ethnicity refers to selected cultural and sometimes physical characteristics used to classify people
into groups or categories considered to be significantly different from others. Commonly recog-
nized American ethnic groups include American Indians, Latinos, Chinese, African Americans
and European Americans. In some cases, ethnicity involves merely a loose group identity with
little or no cultural traditions in common. This is the case with many Irish and German Ameri-
cans. In contrast, some ethnic groups are coherent subcultures with a shared language and body
of tradition. Newly arrived immigrant groups often fit this pattern. None of the founding fathers
of sociology and social anthropology - with the partial exception of Max Weber granted ethnicity
much attention. In everyday language, the word ethnicity still has a ring of “minority issues” and
“race relations”, but in social anthropology, it refers to aspects of relationships between groups
which consider themselves, and are regarded by others, as being culturally distinctive (Erikesen
1993).
Although it is true that “the discourse concerning ethnicity tends to concern itself with subnational
units or minorities of some kind or another” (Chapman et al. 1989: 17 in Eriksen 1993), majori-
ties and dominant peoples are no less “ethnic” than minorities. Ethnicity, or ethnic identity, refers
to membership in a particular cultural group. It is defined by shared cultural practises, including
but not limited to holidays, food, language, and customs. People can share the same nationality
but have different ethnic groups. For example, citizens of the United States are of many different
ethnic backgrounds. People who share an ethnic identity can be of different nationalities. Turkish
citizens of Turkey and Turkish citizens in Germany share an ethnic identity but are of different
nationalities.
Ethnicity is an aspect of social relationship between agents who consider themselves as being
culturally distinctive from members of other groups with whom they have a minimum of regular
interaction. It can thus also be defined as a social identity (based on a contrast vis-a-vis others)
characterised by metaphoric or fictive kinship. When cultural differences regularly make a differ-
ence in interaction between members of groups, the social relationship has an ethnic element.
Ethnicity refers both to aspects of gain and loss in interaction, and to aspects of meaning in the
creation of identity. In this way, it has a political, organisational aspect as well as a symbolic one.
Ethnic groups tend to have myths of common origin, and they nearly always have ideologies
encouraging endogamy, which may nevertheless be of highly varying practical importance.

Activity 5.1 "

1. Define the terms ethnicity and race.........................
2. To which ethnical group do you belong?......................
3. Explain how race can be a social construct...........................
5.2.1 Race and ethnicity

A few words must be said initially about the relationship between ethnicity and “race”. The term
race has deliberately been placed within inverted commas in order to stress that it has dubious
descriptive value. Whereas it was for some time common to divide humanity into four main races,
modern genetics tends not to speak of races, and this has two main reasons. First, there has
always been so much interbreeding between human populations that it would be meaningless to
talk of fixed boundaries between races. Secondly, the distribution of hereditary physical traits
does not follow clear boundaries. In other words, there is often greater variation within a “racial”
group than there is systematic variation between two groups.
Concepts of race can nevertheless be important to the extent that they inform people’s actions; at
this level, race exists as a cultural construct, whether it has a “biological” reality or not. Racism,
obviously, builds on the assumption that personality is somehow linked with hereditary charac-
teristics which differ systematically between “races”, and in this way race may assume sociologi-
cal importance even if it has no “objective” existence. Should the study of race relations, in this
meaning of the word, be distinguished from the study of ethnicity or ethnic relations? Pierre van
den Berghe (1983 in Eriken 1993) does not think so, but would rather regard “race” relations as
a special case of ethnicity. Others, among them Michael Banton (1967 in Erikesen 1993), have
argued the need to distinguish between race and ethnicity. In Banton’s view, race refers to the
categorisation of people, while ethnicity has to do with group identification. He argues that “ethnicity
is generally more concerned with the identification of ‘us’, while racism is more oriented to the
categorisation of ‘them’” (Jenkins, 1986: 177 in Erikesen 1993). However, ethnicity can assume
many forms, and since ethnic ideologies tend to stress common descent among their members,
the distinction between race and ethnicity is a problematic one, even if Banton’s distinction be-
tween groups and categories can be useful.
Discrimination on ethnic grounds is spoken of as “racism” in Trinidad and as “communalism” in

Mauritius (Eriksen, 1993), but the forms of imputed discrimination referred to can be nearly
identical. On the other hand, it is doubtless true those groups who look different from majorities
or dominating groups may be less liable to become assimilated into the majority than others, and
that it can be difficult for them to escape from their ethnic identity if they wish to. However, this
may also hold good for minority groups with, say, an inadequate command of the dominant
language. In both cases, their ethnic identity becomes an imperative status, an ascribed aspect of
their personhood from which they cannot escape entirely. Race or skin colour as such is not the

decisive variable in every society. In the final analysis, it is clear that people, not nature, create our
identities. Ethnicity and supposed “racial” groups are largely cultural and historical con-
structs. They are primarily social rather than biological phenomena. This does not mean that
they do not exist. To the contrary, “races” are very real in the world today. In order to under-
stand them, however, we must look into culture and social interaction rather than biology.
Activity 5.2 "

1. What is the difference between race and ethnicity?............
5.2.2 Ethnicity and class

Theories of social class always refer to systems of social ranking and distribution of power.
Ethnicity, on the contrary, does not necessarily refer to rank; ethnic relations may well be egalitar-
ian in this regard. Still, many poly-ethnic societies are ranked according to ethnic membership.
The criteria for such ranking are nevertheless different from class ranking: they refer to imputed
cultural differences or “races”, not to property or achieved statuses. There may be a high corre-
lation between ethnicity and class, which means that there is a high likelihood that persons be-
longing to specific ethnic groups also belong to specific social classes. There can be a significant
interrelationship between class and ethnicity, both class and ethnicity can be criteria for rank, and
ethnic membership can be an important factor for class membership. Both class differences and
ethnic differences can be pervasive features of societies, but they are not one and the same thing
and must be distinguished from one another analytically.
5.2.3 Ethnic ca catete

teg g ories acr oss the w
across woror ld
orld
During the apartheid era of South Africa (largely from the 1960’s through the early 1990’s), there
were four officially enforced categories of “races”— European (100% European), Asian (100%
East Indian), African (100% African), and Colored (mixture of European and African). At times,
siblings of mixed ancestry were placed into different “racial” groups based solely on skin colour.
As a result, some brothers and sisters were legally prohibited from socializing together. As a
further indication of the arbitrariness of the South African system, business travellers from Japan
were considered to be European. This allowed Japanese visitors to interact socially with the
European minority that controlled the government and economy in South Africa.
In 17th century Spanish colonial America, there were 15 “racial” categories based on the percent
of one’s ancestry from different groups:
Bermejos 100% European
Indios 100% Native American
Negros 100% African
Mulatos European and African mixture (7 categories)
Mestizos European and Native American mixture (5 categories)

The term “mestizo” is still commonly used in Mexico. Depending on the person speaking, it can
be a term of pride or of derision. “Ladino” is now more often used instead of “mestizo” in
Central America. Cultural traits are often as important as biological ones in ethnic identity there.
In Guatemala, for instance, it is often language (Spanish or Maya Indian), education, and style of
clothing that are used to identify people as being ladino instead of indio (Indian).
In 18th century French colonial Haiti, there were 9 categories of African and European mixture
that were defined based on the assumption that people have 128 parts of inheritance:
Blanc 100% European (128 parts European ancestry)

Négre 100% African (128 parts African ancestry)
Mulâtre 64 parts European and 64 parts African
Sacatra 8 to 32 parts European
Griffe 24 to 39 parts European
Marabou 40 to 48 parts European
Quateron 71 to 100 parts European
Métif 101 to 112 parts European
Mamelouc 113 to 120 parts European
Quateronné 121 to 124 parts European
Sang-mêlé 125 to 127 parts European
These “racial” terms are still important to many people in Haiti, especially members of the largely
mixed ancestry upper class. Similar kinds of distinctions are found in the neighbouring Domini-
can Republic today.
Activity 5.3 "

1. Explain how different ethnic categories across the world are
organised.........................
2. How many ethnic groups are there in your country? In which ethnic
group do you belong?...........................................................................
5.3 Nature of ethnicity

Ø Ethnic symbol: All around the world, members of ethnic and so-called “racial” groups
commonly use ethnic symbols as badges of identity to emphasize their distinctness from
other groups. Language, religion, and style of dress are common ethnic symbols. In ad-
dition to such cultural traits, biological characteristics may be important at times as well.

Ø Boundary maintenance: Ethnic group unity needs to be reinforced by a constant empha-

sis on what traits set the members apart from others, rather than what they share in com-
mon with the outsiders. This is a universal means of boundary maintenance, or defense,
between ethnic groups. Ethnic symbols are convenient markers for making “we-they”
distinctions and are the focal points for racism and other unpleasant manifestations of
ethnocentrism. They also mask in-group differences.
Ø Assimilation and ethnocide: Whether or not individuals in minority ethnic or “racial”

groups prominently emphasize their ethnic symbols may vary with the situation. They may
not emphasize them if they are trying to identify with or join the dominant culture in their
society. That is to say, they may de-emphasize the things that make them different if they
wish to assimilate into the dominant ethnic group. For instance, the children of many
immigrants to the United States prefer to speak in the local colloquial dialect of English
rather than in their parents’ native language. Likewise, they choose to dress and act like
other Americans in their schools. This has the effect of making them less different from
their neighbours while estranging them from their parents. Assimilation can be speeded up
by marriage across ethnic or “racial” boundaries. As intermarriage becomes common,
ethnic/racial differences often are progressively blurred. Not surprisingly, many ethnic/
racial group organizations are opposed to intermarriage—they see it as a tool of ethnocide.
Activity 5.4 "

1. Using the definition of ethnic symbols outlined above, list the different
ethnic symbols that define your ethnic group..........................
2. Explain what is meant by boundary maintenance..............................
5.4 Forms of discrimination

Prejudice and discrimination based on presumed ethnic/racial differences are universal—they
are found in various forms in all societies. Acts of prejudice range all the way from benign
classification of people to cruel persecution. However, the term racism has come to be impre-
cisely applied to all of these behaviors. Kwame Appiah, a British and Ghanaian scholar of
African American issues, has made a useful distinction between kinds of prejudicial behavior. He
uses the term racialism for the more benign forms of discrimination such as categorizing people
for reference purposes on the basis of age, gender, and ethnicity/race. He reserves the term
racism for harmful discrimination such as not hiring someone because of their “race.” This
distinction will be followed here.
We are all racialists. It is normal to categorize people in our daily lives based on a number of
traits. It can be a useful aid in predicting behaviour. For instance, when you are lost in a strange

city, you very likely approach an adult rather than a young child for help because you surmise that
the adult will know more. Similarly, when you want to take an out-of-town guest to a good
traditional Mexican restaurant, you may ask a Mexican American friend for recommendations.
However, when categorizing leads to behaviour that harms another person, it becomes racism.
No one ethnic/racial group has the monopoly on racism. Even members of groups that are
aggressively discriminated against by others may think and act in a vicious racist manner. Racism
has been a common element in American history. However, the most pervasive racist acts are
not being carried out in America today. Far from it. Over the last two decades, they have been
in such places as the former Yugoslavia, Israel, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Rwanda, South Africa
and Sudan. In all of these countries, ethnic identities have been strongly emphasized as a govern-
ment policy. The result has been the rise of tribalism and even genocide in some regions. Through-
out history, there have been numerous atrocities carried out in the name of ethnic/racial purifica-
tion. If racism and ethnic persecution are indeed as much a part of human nature as ethnocen-
trism, we can expect that such atrocities will occur in the future as well.
While racism is universal, its focus usually changes in the transition from small-scale societies to
large-scale ones. The smallest societies are almost always biologically and culturally homog-
enous without ethnic group distinctions. In such societies, the target of racism is other societies.
Strangers are often thought of as being not quite human. In contrast, large societies are often
heterogeneous and have many ethnic groups. The targets of racism are mostly other ethnic
groups within the same society. In Italy, for instance, Northern Italians often look down upon
Southern Italians and stereotype them as being ignorant, dishonest, and lazy. Southern Italians
often view Northern Italians as being impersonal, dull, and not trustworthy. A similar north-south
stereotyping occurs in China.
We have seen that prejudice in human interaction is a universal phenomenon. The results of
prejudgment can range all the way from relatively harmless racialist categorizing to vicious racist
acts. By strongly emphasizing ethnic symbols for boundary maintenance purposes, ethnic groups
indirectly foster racism which, in turn, can become an effective tool in preserving and enhancing
the distinctness of the groups. However, racism and other unpleasant products of heightened
ethnic identity can also diminish as a result of increased communication and intermarriage be-
tween groups.
Activity 5.5 "

1. What is racism? How is it different from racialism?.................
2. Using your country as an example, examine how race has been to
prejudice certain groups..................................
5.5 Ethnic groups as culture-bearing units

Among the characteristics of ethnic groups, the sharing of a common culture is generally given
central importance. If we choose to regard the culture-bearing aspect of ethnic groups as their

primary characteristic, this has far-reaching implications. One is led to identify and distinguish
ethnic groups by the morphological characteristics of the cultures of which they are the bearers.
This entails a prejudged viewpoint both on (1) the nature of continuity in time of such units,
and (2) the locus of the factors which determine the form of the units.
1. Given the emphasis on the culture-bearing aspect, the classification of persons and local
groups as members of an ethnic group must depend on their exhibiting the particular traits
of the culture. This is something that can be judged objectively by the ethnographic ob-
server, in the culture-area tradition, regardless of the categories and prejudices of the
actors. Differences between groups become differences in trait inventories; the attention is
drawn to the analysis of cultures, not of ethnic organization.
2. The overt cultural forms which can be itemized as traits exhibit the effects of ecology. The
same group of people, with unchanged values and ideas, would surely pursue different
patterns of life and institutionalize different forms of behaviour when faced with the differ-
ent opportunities offered in different environments. Likewise, we must expect to find that
one ethnic group, spread over a territory with varying ecologic circumstances, will exhibit
regional diversities of overt institutionalized behaviour which do not reflect differences in
cultural orientation. A case in point is the distributions and diversity of Pathan local social
systems discussed here. By basic Pathan values, a Southern Pathan from the homoge-
neous, lineage organized mountain areas, can only find the behaviour of Pathans in Swat so
different from, and reprehensible in terms of, their own values that they declare their north-
ern brothers ‘no longer Pathan’. Indeed, by ‘objective’ criteria, their overt pattern of orga-
nization seems much closer to that of Panjabis of India. But it is possible, by explaining the
circumstances in the north, to make Southern Pathans agree that these were indeed Pathans
too, and grudgingly to admit that under those circumstances they might indeed they act in
the same way. It is thus inadequate to regard overt institutional forms as constituting the
cultural features which at any time distinguish an ethnic group - these overt forms are
determined by ecology as well as by transmitted culture. Nor can it be claimed that every
such diversification within a group represents a first step in the direction of subdivision and
multiplication of units. We have well-known documented cases of one ethnic group, also
at a relatively simple level of economic organization, occupying several different ecologic
niches and yet retaining basic cultural and ethnic unity over long periods.
Activity 5.6 "

1. In what ways are ethnic group culture bearing units?........
5.6 The current concern with ethnicity

Whereas classical social anthropology, as exemplified in the works of Malinowski, Boas, Radcliffe-
Brown, Lévi-Strauss, Evans-Pritchard and others, would characteristically focus on single “tribal”
societies, changes in the world after the Second World War have brought many of these societies

into increased contact with each other, with the state and with global society. Many of the peoples
studied by social anthropologists have become involved in national liberation movements or
ethnic conflicts in post-colonial states. Many of them, formerly regarded as “tribes” or “aboriginals”,
have become “ethnic minorities”. Many former members of tribal or traditional groups have also
migrated to Europe or North America, where their relationships with the host societies have been
studied extensively by sociologists, social psychologists and social anthropologists.
Some ethnic groups have moved to towns or regional centres where they are brought into con-
tact with people with other customs, languages and identities, and where they frequently enter
into competitive relationships in politics and the labour market. Frequently, people who migrate
try to maintain their old kinship and neighbourhood social networks in the new urban context,
and both ethnic quarters and ethnic political groupings often emerge in such urban settings. Al-
though the speed of social and cultural change can be high, people tend to retain their ethnic
identity despite having moved to a new environment. In an influential study of ethnic identity in
the United States, Glazer and Moynihan (1963 in Erikesen 1993) stated that the most important
point to be made about the “American melting-pot” is that it never occurred. They argue that
rather than eradicating ethnic differences, modern American society has actually created a new
awareness in people, a concern about roots and origins. Moreover, many Americans continue to
use their ethnic networks actively when looking for jobs or a spouse. Many prefer to live in
neighbourhoods dominated by people with the same origins as themselves, and they continue to
regard themselves as “Italians”, “Poles”, in addition to being Americans - two generations or
more after their ancestors left the country of origin.
A main insight from anthropological research has been that ethnic organisation and identity, rather
than being “primordial” phenomena radically opposed to modernity and the modern state, is
frequently reactions to processes of modernisation. As Jonathan Friedman has put it, “[e]thnic
and cultural fragmentation and modernist homogenization are not two arguments, two opposing
views of what is happening in the world today, but two constitutive trends of global reality”
(Friedman, 1990: 311 in Erikesen 1993). Does this mean that ethnicity is chiefly a modern phe-
nomenon? This is a tricky, but highly relevant question. The contemporary ethnic processes
referred to above can be described as modern in character. In an influential statement on political
ethnicity, the concept is perhaps most useful in the study of the development of new political
cultures in situations of social change in the “Third World”.
Activity 5.7 "

1. Using your country as an example, show how different ethnicities relate
to each other?...............................................
2. Using the American example, show how ethnicity is a modern
phenomena?......

5.7 Conclusion
The unit showed the importance of the concept of ethnicity given the modern day concerns with
various ethnic conflicts all across the world. It has explained the various meanings and ways of
looking at the concept. Issues of discrimination and racism are important and you need to under-
stand how these are social constructions. In conclusion remember how this concept relates to
other topics in this module.

Unit 6 Ideology
Unit 6
IDEOLOGY
6.0 Introduction
Unit six introduces the concept of ideology to you. The concept of ideology cuts across anthro-
pological studies for example religion is an ideology. However in this module we are dealing with
ideology as a separate concept so as to understand how it relates to anthropological concepts. It
will build from the unit on religion and show another view of religion as an ideological construct.
The unit thus in most instances rounds off unit four. You should understand that ideology has its
roots in Marxian ideology which concentrated mainly on analysing how it was used to ensure that
the system of exploitation was maintained for the benefit of the ruling classes.
6.1 Objecti
Objectivves
!
The objectives of this unit are to ensure that you are able to:
Ø Define ideology
Ø Analyse the various forms of ideology and how they operate in society
Ø Explain how religion functions as an ideology
6.2 Defining ideology

Kalakowski (1979:119 in Cheater 1986) defined ideology as comprising ‘the sum of concep-
tions which enables a social group (a social class, for example, but not only a class) to systematise
the values in which the mystified consciousness and the activity of this group are expressed...The
social function of ideology is to consolidate belief in the values which are essential to the fruitful
activity of the group’. Ideology in this sense congruent with Malinowski’s view of culture. An-

thropologists suggest that the existence of multiple ideologies or a notable divergence of periph-
eral and dominant ideologies. Ideology can be defined in various. We should appreciate that this
concept has multiple meanings. Below are some of the ways the concept has been viewed or
used.
Activity 6.1 "

1. What is ideology?.........................................................
2. Using Kalakowski’s definition give examples of ideologies and how
they operate in your society.......................................................
6.2.1 Ideology as false consciousness

For Karl Marx, ideology is a false consciousness that swaddles people like blankets in winter to
ward off the chill of deep critical reflection. An apt paraphrase for the famous Marxian quip that
“religion is the opiate of the masses,” would be, religion is the ideology of the masses. From his
point of view, people would do well to escape any and every ideological moment. To the degree
that they do not, they are setting themselves up for self-mystification in service to the economic
system. People should crawl out from under ideology, and flee towards a liberated towards a
truthful take on social life. As Marx saw it, ideology performs two related functions. On the
negative side, it smothers liberal (open) and critical thought. On the positive side, it legitimates
power. Here, we should pause to consider this heavy word “legitimates.” Consider our common
uses: legitimate child is respected whilst an illegitimate child is a bastard. “Legitimacy” is almost
always associated with a claim to a bona fide membership in a class. Legitimate theater, legiti-
mate painting, and legitimate children consist of performance, art works, and people who enjoy
a well-founded and deeply rooted claim to their status. There are however certain ideologies
such as the women’s movement or the liberation movements in Africa that have come from the
oppressed. If ideologies were perpetrated by the rich how then did Marxism come into exist-
ence? At the end however we should agree that all ideologies have an element of mysticism.
Activity 6.2 "

1. Using examples from your own societies explain how ideologies can
be false consciousness?....................................................
2. Discuss the weaknesses of the above view..........
6.2.2 Ideology and practice

One feature of ideology that was overlooked by early Marxists is that ideology is a process of
practice as well as of thought. Ideology is an accomplishment rather than a static inert system of
thought. We grow ideologies just as we grow peas, and we do so by our daily words and

Unit 6 Ideology
practices. The Quakers seemed to sense this when they objected so strenuously in seventeenth-
century England to the then common contrast between formal (elite) and informal (common)
second-person pronouns. They seemed to understand that the act of talking class distinctions
helps to concretize them. And by contrast, to refuse to use pronouns of class is a step in the
direction of de-legitimating class distinctions. Such a focus on discourse counters the intuitively
heavy emphasis given to thought and ideas when talking about ideology. We should be able to
see, with Eagleton, that “ideologies are action-oriented sets of beliefs rather than speculative
theoretical systems.” Such a notion of words that “grow” ideologies is central to Pierre Bourdieu’s
so-called “reproduction theory” according to which everyday action reproduces the conditions
of ideological domination.
Ideologies are accomplished in and through the repetitious actions of everyday life. Brushing
your teeth after waking up in the morning, covering your mouth when you cough, saying “Hi!” to
a colleague who passes in the hallway, kissing your kids at night before they go to sleep, all these
routine are occasions for reproducing ideology. They reflect our social commitments while simul-
taneously rooting those commitments deeper in daily practice. With each new rehearsal of such
habits, those habits become more solidly entrenched and more thoroughly legitimated. Ideologi-
cal foundations are built, through these habits, in a sedimentary fashion, layer over layer over
layer of action, with the weight of the whole compressed and compacted in memory (squeezing
aside details, and leaving only the most general outlines of our sociality). In this way, as Clifford
Geertz has argued, the simple and unconsciously performed social acts of everyday life become
“models of” but also “models for” our social lives. They constitute us ideologically at the same
time that they reveal our social constitution.
We can better appreciate the ideologies that are accomplished in the dimly lit corners of every-
day practice by focussing our attention on ideological accomplishments that take place in more
clearly defined and brightly shining areas of social life, namely, in “public performances.” Public
performances are sharply defined moments of public display of a talent or competence, playful
moments of heightened intensity that idealize the management of power in social life. Perfor-
mances are sharply defined, often physically so, and set off from the practices of everyday life.
The curtain goes up to start the play, the whistle blows to start the game, and the heavy silence of
the church defines the space dedicated to liturgical performance. In all these ways, public perfor-
mances are set apart, and endowed with a special kind of seriousness. Public performances are
as serious as they are because they embody ideals of how we are to be social and, more specifi-
cally, of how we are to manage power, that is, ideological ideals.
Those who take in performances, whether those performances are films, or musical events,
museum displays, football games, stand-up comedy acts or advertising photographs in maga-
zines operate by unconsciously inserting themselves into the roles being performed. In a basket-
ball game that goes into double overtime, we become Michael Jordans and we expect ourselves
to perform to perfection. Some aspects of our identification are more conscious than others.
When we see a magazine ad that features a handsome couple sipping wine in a posh hotel room,
we can easily recognize the spotlight placed on their grace and beauty. But, we also identify with
a host of less clearly spotlighted aspects of the photo. Our eyes, glancing over the glossy, in-
stantly connect disparate points and reconstitute idealized relations. Like the eyes that stare up at

a theater marquee and swear that the lights are hopping from bulb to bulb, our manner of discern-
ing a magazine ad is one that discovers habits of sociality and takes them to be models for our
social life. In this way ideology is accomplished.
Activity 6.3 "

1. In what ways is ideology a practice? Use examples from your own
culture.................
6.2.3 Ideology as collective representations

Mannheim (1936 in Cheater 1986) conceptualises ideology as social unreliability which lay closer
to Durkheim’s (1895/1938 in Cheater 1986) conception of ‘collective representations’ in soci-
ety. What Durkheim called ‘collective representations’ were the shared ideas and values gener-
ated by the collective consciousness. As social facts, collective representations were indepen-
dent of and external to the individuals holding them. We must ask ourselves then where does the
legitimacy of the collective consciousness come from? Durkheim (1915 in Adams 1998) pro-
vides an answer to this through studies of Australian totemism. He identified Australian totemism
based on a special relationship between natural species and descent groups, as the simplest or
most elementary form of religious activity. The intichiuma rituals generated a religious frame of
mind among the participants; creating a special relationship among worshipers. This common
expressive behaviour is a heightened mental state.
Activity 6.4 "

1. In what ways is this view (ideology as collective representations)
different to the view of ideology as false consciousness?............
6.2.4 Ideology as ideal realities

Immobile people in rule bound societies tend to hold rigid views about the proper order of things.
Their cultural ideologies depend on relatively fixed assumptions and two of these assumptions
are based on hierarchy and gender which exemplifies Godelier’s ideal realities. These ‘concep-
tual basics’ comprise ‘a complex body of representations, ideas, patterns...which...are essential
for any material activity to be able to occur’ (Godelier 1978:363 in Cheater 1986)
Ø Hierarchy: In Hindu India hierarchy provided the ideological principle by which the ele-
ments of a whole ranked in relation to the whole. Hindu holy writings (Vedas) distinguish
four differentially ranked varnas: priestly Brahmans, ruling Kshatriyas, farming Vaishays
(these are all categorised as twice born) and lastly the Sudra servants. Each of the four
major castes are divided into hundreds of occupational sub castes or jatis. The higher

Unit 6 Ideology
ranking jati protects itself from pollution by the impurity of the sub caste immediately
below it. The overall system of ranking appears contradictory and confused because it
varies from one locality to the other. Throughout the system there are elaborate code of
pollution etiquette defining the sub castes from which one may accept different types of
food and drink and those whose presence in the same space is an offence one’s ritual
purity. The religious notions of purity and truth thus provide an ‘immutable model’. (Cheater
1986)
Ø Gender: When we look at gender as an ideological basis for allocating roles in production
and society is more complicated than appears at first sight. Human sex is divided into male
and female .however not all human males are socially men and vice versa for example
transsexual men (homosexual prostitutes called Xanith in Oman) moved freely in the se-
cluded world of Muslim women purdah since they were not socially seen as men. Gender
as opposed to sex refers to the processes by which differences between the sexes are
constructed in society. These differences encompass important material differences for
example the division of labour is based on the sexes. However they are in the first instance
ideological and it has numerous origins such as from Eve in Genesis (Christian bible) or
Pandora in Greek mythology. Anthropologists have characterised societies throughout
Melanesia as displaying antagonism between the sexes which was reflected materially in
residential arrangements. In most New Guinea societies married couples did not live to-
gether. Elsewhere women were associated with malevolent witchcraft. Women were thought
to grow naturally through semen and men needed rituals and help from their wives to
‘grow’. Melanesian ritual practices including imitative menstruation and ritualised homo-
sexuality on young boys and men are there to assist men ‘grow’ (Cheater 1986).
Activity 6.5 "

1. Explain how the caste system in India is ideologically
constructed......................
2. How is gender an ideological construction?......................................
6.3 Ideology and the state

We now turn to the relationship between the state and ideology. Religion and politics relations
occur on a continuum; for instance on one end they may exist independently and on the other end
be fused in what Marx and Engels (1975) call the theocratic state. Between these two extremes
lie various for unilateral and mutual manipulation, confrontation and accommodation. Marx views
religion as reflecting man’s alienation from both the world and himself. ‘Man makes religion,
religion does not make man. Religion is the self – consciousness and self esteem of man who has
either not yet found himself or has already lost himself again’ (Marx and Engels 1975:38 in
Adams 1998). Religion and various other ideologies ensure submission to authority and passive

suffering however we know that religions can also be a form of protest. Ideology as notes earlier
in this unit is the false consciousness peddled by the ruling class to ensure the compliance of
workers in their own oppression. However many ideologies such as black power and women’s
liberation movement were created by oppressed people and not ruling classes. (Cheater 1986)
Ø Ideological construction of nationality and ethnicity: the arguament here is that where
political boundaries are irrelevant to defining this ethnic or national identity, it maybe re-
emphasised by the use of religious ideological markers. Cheater (1986) highlights that the
Hausa in Yoruba started to protect their cultural exclusiveness when there trade was being
threatened. They started stressing their Islamic distinctiveness as adherents of the Tijaniya
order. Under Soviet rule in the Baltic states, affiliation to the Lutheran and Mennonite
denominations emphasised the distinctiveness of German speaking Latvians. Religious af-
filiation can be used to stress specific cultural identities. In Israel the state has used Judaism
to create national identity thus we can talk of a civil religion in which cultural nationalism is
a form of ideology.
Ø The state use of religion: Israel was born in conflict through displacement of Palestinians
from the land and is constantly insecure yet faith in their ultimate return to the Promised
Land has brought together Jews from different cultural backgrounds and areas. Civil reli-
gion has ensured a mechanism for the incorporation of culturally diverse immigrants into
the new state. Israeli civil religion however does not incorporate anti – Zionist Jews or
Muslim and Christian Arabs who hold Israeli citizenship.
Ø Secular ideology: The Soviet Union at its inception in 1917 recurrently sought not to use
religion to construct national ideology and ultimately dispense with it. To do this the state
invented tradition and culture as an integrated system of both ideological institutions (law,
art and religion) and social relationships. Historically there are events in which the state
clamped down on the church for example the Russian Orthodox Church lost most of its
land to the state without compensation. Soviet Union experienced four phases of religious
suppression (1918 – 22, 1928 – 34, 1937 – 41 and 1957 - 64).
Ø Church against the State: The Jehovah’s Witness for example was according to Cheater
(1986) unwelcome in Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania for causing problems for govern-
ments. White Jehovah’s Witnesses in Southern Rhodesia refused to serve in Ian Smith’s
army. Such disparate political regimes have antagonism to the Jehovah’s Witness because
they do not recognise any authority on earth. In Zambia the new state found itself faced
with the problem of the Lumpa church whose founder Alice Lenshisha in 1962 forbade her
church members to vote for Kaunda and claimed that all nationalist who had used violence
to gain independence would not go to heaven. This led to considerable rural conflicts as
Kaunda supporters victimised the church members. The church was later banned and
troops sent in to destroy the church. Lenshisha was arrested and her supporters fled to
Zaire (Cheater 1986).

Unit 6 Ideology
Activity 6.6 "

1. Using examples discuss the following:
i. Ideological creation of nationality and ethnicity..........................
ii. State use of ideology................................................
iii. Secular ideology..............................................................
iv. Church against the state................................................
6.4 Conclusion
The unit has provided a foundation for you to understand the concept of ideology. It offered
various ways of understanding the concept and how it can be applied to analyse different con-
texts. It also rounded off unit four on religion by analysing how religion can be viewed as an
ideological construct. You should realise that most of the concepts we learn in anthropology are
ideological constructs. At this level what is important is to get the grasp of what ideology is and
later in your studies begin to understand the various debates surrounding the concept.


Unit 7 Politics, Law and Order
Unit 7
POLITICS, LAW AND ORDER
7.0 Introduction
If politics is defined broadly as competition for power over people and things, then it is clear that
all societies have some sort of political system. However, there can be a vast difference in what
political organizations look like and how they function in different kinds of societies. It may
initially seem to the casual observer that some small-scale societies have no politicians or political
organizations at all, but they are present in very different forms than people in modern large-scale
societies expect. These unusual political systems are the primary focus of this unit. The unit will
focus on defining political organisation, examining how order is maintained in and between soci-
eties and how political systems gain legitimacy.
7.1 Objectives
!
Ø Define political organization and outline the various forms found around
the world;
Ø Explain how order is maintained within a society;
Ø Analyse how political systems obtain peoples allegiance.
7.2 What is politics?

In all societies, there will be some competition for resources and some competition over ideas
and how resources are to be acquired and used. Competition is not limited to gaining actual
possession of resources. It also involves striving to holding sway over the ideas of others con-
cerning the manner in which things are distributed and the ways in which competition takes place.

In large scale societies, there are often many competing ideas and many groups and individuals
seeking to assert their particular views. The ability to influence and control how people perceive
things, how they behave and how things are distributed involves having power or the ability to act
effectively on people or things. The competition for power is called politics.
7.3 The bases of political power

The struggle for power and the ability to wield power are central to politics. Power means
influencing what others do or causing others to behave according to their own designs. The
wishes and interests of those in power may coincide with those over whom they have power
creating an air of benevolence or irrelevancy.
7.3.1 Authority
Power is often related to authority the right (versus simply the ability) to make particular deci-
sions and command obedience. Within any society, there are likely to be distinct realms of au-
thority. Talal Asad (1970) distinguishes two realms of authority among the Kababish Arabs of
Sudan: the household and the tribal. Power within the household sphere is held largely by the
male household head on the basis of his role as husband, father and manager of the family
enterprise and his ability to control and use the household’s animal property in a moral and
effective manner. Power within the wider tribal sphere is held by a shaikh (chief or headman) and
the lineage of which he is a member. The shaikh and his lineage gained authority by cultivating
ties with the colonial and later national authorities who rewarded them with administrative posts.
These posts allowed them to control access to and allocation of significant resources like water.
The majority of Kababish feel that members of the shaikh’s elite lineage are entitled to their
authority to speak for the Kababish, to collect taxes and to make other political decisions be-
cause they have the power to enforce their will. The elite themselves base their authority on
historical precedent-in the past. Members of other kin groups pledge their allegiance to the
shaikh in return for his protection and on the legal rights associated with the offices they hold.
7.3.2 Ideas
Politics is also based on political norms, that is, ideas about appropriate political goals and
behavior. Through a process of political socialisation, people develop goals within a specific
environment and also learn preferred means of achieving them. When ideas are consciously and
systematically organized into some form of programme or plan, they can be said to constitute an
ideology. Ideologies are political to the extent that they are concerned with the distribution of
power: the maintenance, reform or overthrow of the existing structure. Australian Aboriginal law
serves as a political ideology by providing justifications for existing power relations between men
and women, initiates and non-initiates, elders and others.

7.3.3 Political symbols

Political ideologies and politics in general heavily rely on symbolic imagery. Symbols are useful
politically for a number of reasons. They possess an intrinsic power to focus on and conjure up
string basic emotions-feelings of hatred, of well being, of happiness or despair. To become iden-
tified with such power is quite beneficial for someone with political ambitions. Politicians often
compete for identification with relevant symbols. For example, political parties in some newly
independent nations scramble for identification with the symbols of the national struggle for inde-
pendence. Symbols promote a sense of continuity and legitimacy.
Activity 7.1 "

1. What is politics?...................................
2. With reference to examples, define power and differentiate it from
authority
……………………………
3. Using example, explain the various bases of power……………………
7.4 Political organisation

Peoples and Bailey (1994) note that every society has some form of political system, meaning
those institutions that organise and direct the collective actions of the population. In small societ-
ies political leadership and organisation may be informal and even ad hoc. Only when a specific
need for leadership arises does some individual assume an overt leadership role. In general the
larger the population, the more formalised the leadership and the more complex the political
organisation. All societies demand some minimal degree of conformity from their members. All,
therefore, develop, mechanisms of social control by which their behaviour as individuals are
constrained and directed into acceptable channels. By means of social control a society encour-
ages normatively proper behaviour and discourages unacceptable actions, the objective being
the maintenance of harmony and cooperation. The most serious deviations from acceptable
behaviour which threaten the cohesiveness of the group fall under the aspect of social control
called law. Political organisations fall four basic forms from the least to the most complex. These
forms are bands, tribes, chiefdoms and states.
Activity 7.2 "

1. What is political organisation?...........................................
2. Why is political organisation necessary for law and
order?.........................
3. What is social control? How is it achieved in your
community?.........................

7.5 Kinds of political systems

In the early 20th century, anthropologists developed several useful systems for classifying societ-
ies. These made it easier to understand patterns of similarities and differences between cultures.
Classification generally focused on either the nature of the economy or the political system. Politics
focused classification usually distinguishes societies based on the nature of their political institu-
tions and how power is distributed. In 1962, the American Anthropologist Elman Service ob-
served in his seminal book, Primitive Social Organization, that as the size of a society’s popu-
lation and territory grow, it requires new kinds of political leaders and organizations in order to
solve the inevitable societal problems inherent in population growth and to avoid splitting into
separate societies. He referred to these different kinds of political solutions as levels of political
integration. He described four levels that have been found around the world—band, tribe, chiefdom,
and state.
As anthropologists analysed political behaviour in the absence of overt political office in many
African societies of the past, they set up a dichotomy of centralised (type A) and uncentralized
(type B) societies. However this dichotomy poorly accommodated intermediate types such as
petty chiefdoms. Mair (1962) therefore suggested, somewhat later a tripartite classification into
societies with minimal government (such as family bands among hunter gatherers); those with
governmental functions diffused among and embedded within social categories (such as age
grades and lineages) and those having a state organisation. Political organisation thus occurs on a
continuum that stretches from family bands to modern bureaucratic states.
Activity 7.3 "

1. Outline and explain the various kinds of political systems..................
7.6 Uncentralized political systems

The simplest political systems are found in bands and tribes. To the casual observer from the
outside, these kinds of societies do not seem to have leaders in the sense that we commonly
expect. Political power is essentially diffused throughout the society. Subsequently, they have
been referred to as being acephalous (Greek for “without a head”).
7.6.1 Bands
Bands have been found primarily among foragers, especially self-sufficient pedestrian foragers.
The total number of people within these societies rarely exceeds a few dozen. Bands are essen-
tially associations of families living together. They are loosely allied by marriage, descent, friend-
ship, and common interest. The primary integrating mechanism for these societies is kinship.
Bands are extremely egalitarian—all families are essentially equal. There is no economic class
differentiation. However, there are often clear status differences based on gender and age. There
is a horizontal status and power relationship in bands between all adults of the same gender.

However, some individuals in a band stand out for their skills and knowledge such as hunters. Such
people become informal leaders. Most often they are given authority by community consensus
arrived at through casual discussion without the need for a formal vote. Band leaders generally
have temporary political power at best, and they do not have any significant authority relative to
other adults. They can give advice and propose action, but they do not have the formal authority
to force others to accept their decisions.
The principle goal of politics in most bands is making sure that people get along with each other.
This is not easy given human nature. Given the small size of bands and the fact that everyone is
involved in the lives of everyone else, quarrels quickly become community problems that have
the potential for splitting the band along family lines. In fact, band fissioningapparently has
been a common occurrence. As the number of people in a society increases, the potential for
disruptive interpersonal conflicts inevitably rises. Subsequently, the likelihood of families decid-
ing to leave and form their own bands increases. Richard Lee has referred to this process as
social velocity. He observed that among the ju/’hoansi of southwest Africa, fissioning often
occurred before a community reached the full carrying capacity of the environment. Typically,
there is no leadership position in bands that has the authority to conclusively settle disputes,
punish criminals, prevent families from leaving, or represent the entire community in dealings with
outsiders. Decisions are made by community consensus, but people who don’t agree with the
consensus generally do not have to accept it.
Activity 7.4 "

1. Using examples outline the features of a band..........................
7.6.2 Tribes
A tribe is a somewhat more complex type of acephalous society than a band. As the population
size increases with a shift in subsistence pattern from foraging to horticulture or pastoralism, it
eventually reaches a point at which kinship ties and friendship are no longer sufficient to hold
society together. This is especially the case when there are hundreds of people and multiple
communities. Tribes also are characteristic of some large equestrian and rich aquatic foraging
societies. The new integrative mechanisms of tribes are referred to by anthropologists as pantribal
associations or sodalities. These are groups that cross-cut the society by bringing together a
limited number of people, typically at least one from each family. Pantribal associations often are
in the form of councils, groups of elder men or women who are members of the same age set,
warrior societies, religious cults, or secret societies. While these groups have specific purposes,
they also serve to create order and a sense of unity for a tribe.
In a number of tribal societies of New Guinea, all men traditionally lived together communally in
a “big house,” while women lived with their daughters and young sons in their own individual
houses close to the gardens where they farmed. Older boys went through an initiation ceremony
in order to become a man, move into the “big house”, and learn the religious secrets kept by

men. In these societies, men made the important political decisions. The group of men living in
the big house acted as the pantribal association that cross-cut society. Even in New Guinea
societies that did not have a tradition of “big houses”, the important pantribal associations were
most often made up of men as they are in most tribal societies. Subsequently, men had more
political power and prestige than women.
Tribes commonly have village headmen who perform leadership roles, but these individuals have
relatively limited authority. Political power stems largely from their senior position within kin
groups and their ability to persuade or harangue others into doing what they want. In New
Guinea and many of the neighbouring islands of Melanesia, these leaders are called “big men.” In
the past, there often were competing “big men” who vied with each other for status and nominal
authority over a number of villages. They worked for years to accumulate pigs and other items of
high value in order to give them away in large, very public formal ceremonies. This functioned to
not only enhance their status and political influence but to also redistribute wealth within their
societies. A similar ritualized economic redistribution was orchestrated by the leading men among
the Kwakiutl and some other rich fishing societies on the northwest coast of North America.
Their principle goal was also to increase their status and power. Like bands, most tribal societies
are still essentially egalitarian in that no one family or residential group is politically or economi-
cally superior to others. All families are basically alike, including those of the headmen. They are
for the most part self-sufficient in regards to food and other basic necessities. However, tribes
differ from bands in the way that they are integrated. They are also larger societies. Tribal
societies have suffered the same consequence of contact with the large-scale societies. There no
longer are any tribes that have been able to maintain their traditional political systems unaltered
by outside influences.
Activity 7.5 "

1. Using examples explain what is meant by tribe..........................
7.7 Centralized political systems

7.7.1 Chiefdoms
As societies become more complex with larger and more specialised populations, more sophis-
ticated technology and growing surplus – their need for more formal and permanent political
structures increases. In such societies, known as chiefdoms, political authority is likely to reside
with a single individual acting alone or in conjunction with an advisory council. Chiefs are officials
with higher power, rank and authority than others in society for example Polynesian chiefs are
alleged to possess supernatural power of mana which lent special type of credence to their
authority (Ferraro 2001).

7.7.2 States
Ferraro (2001:256) states that the state system of government is the most formal and most
complex form of political organisation. A state can defined as a hierarchical form of political
organisation that governs many communities within a large geographic area. States possess power
to collect taxes, can recruit labour for armies and civilian public work projects and have a mo-
nopoly on the right to use force. They are large bureaucratic organisations made up of permanent
institutions with legislative, administrative and judicial functions. Political structures are organised
on a suprakinship basis. With economic development and the evolution of classes, the state
became a necessity. ‘The state is a public power, then, maintaining itself by taking its citizens, is as
a rule, the state of the most powerful, economically dominant class, which , through the medium
of the state, becomes also politically dominant class’ (Engels 1948:168). The state distances
power from the control of the people, by basing itself on territory and citizenship. State formation
can be through conquest as in the case of Shaka and the Zulu state or through incorporation for
example among the Bornu of Northern Nigeria.
Activity 7.6 "

1. What is a chiefdom?.............................................................
2. What are the features of a state?..............................................
7.8 Case studies of political organisation in

Africa
7.8.1 Lineage segmentation as political organisation: The Nuer
A form of political organization in which a larger group is broken up into clans that similar to clan,
but less extensive are further divided into lineages. It is a relatively rare form of political system.
The Nuer of Sudan is a classic example. Traditionally the patrilineal Nuer was divided/segmented
into some twenty different tribes each subdivided into clans. Each tribe had a dominant aristo-
cratic clan whose members claimed special prestige from living in their clan territory (which they
lost if they moved out of it). In turn the clans were segmented into lineages of varying depth, from
the largest (maximal) units to those in which members were smallest (minimal) units not exceeding
five generations in depth. Each local descent group or minimal patrilineage formed the agnatic
core of a village. Neighbouring villages, comprising a minor lineage shared a bounded territory
which Evans Pritchard called territory tribal section: territory sections were aggregated into sec-
ondary sections were dominated by a major lineage.
In turn secondary sections were grouped into primary sections controlled by maximal lineages or
small clans. The primary sections were the largest sub divisions of the tribal territory as a whole.
Within the tribal territory, disputes were supposed to be settled by compensation. Beyond this
territory with unrelated neighbours, open warfare erupted. In Nuer ideology never ended though
it might be interrupted temporarily by the payment of cattle as compensatory bloodwealth. Such

temporary settlement of feuds is negotiated by the earth priests who came from lineages
monopolising special ritual powers. They had no access to instruments of force to enforce their
decisions other than to threaten a curse. In addition to earth priests there were also village bulls or
bigmen and prophets possessed by sky spirits to mediate in feuds.
Activity 7.7 "

1. Using the example of the Nuer, outline the basic features of a segmented
lineage political system................................
7.8.2 Age grades as political organisation: The

Gikuyu
The Gikuyu arranged their society into age grades which accommodated political functions. By
the age of twenty, Gikuyu youth had to be initiated after which the young men joined the junior
warrior sub grade and became part of its council (the njama ya anake a mumo). They fell under
the military and social discipline of the senior warrior sub grade and its council of war (njama ya
ita) headed by the war priest (mondo mayo wa ita) who was presumably an elder. Some six
years after initiation a junior warrior moved up automatically to senior status having served his
military apprenticeship in the ranks.
The warrior age grades were charged with defence and raiding under the control of decision
making elders. The warriors were organised at village, district and national (tribal) levels with
elected leaders and spokesmen at each level. The Gikuyu transition from warrior to elder status
was achieved individually by marriage after which a man was required to join the council of the
lowest of three sub grades of elderhood, the kiama gia kamatimo. In this capacity the married
man became an apprentice, this time in judicial and administrative matters. After fifteen years of
learning as an observer on how social order was maintained, when his first born is initiated, the
junior elder was promoted into the council of peace (kiama gia mataathi). Here he took part in
the judicial process of resolving disputes (such as land disputes) brought before the council.
Finally when all of his children had been initiated and all of his wives had reached menopause, he
could enter the highest grade of elderhood and become a member of the ritual council (kiama
gia maturanguru). Accession into a more senior grade was at all levels accompanied by oaths
not to reveal the secrets of that level of political responsibility.
Activity 7.8 "

1. Using the Gikuyu as an example, outline the basic elements of an age
based political organisation.........................................

7.8.3 Petty chiefdoms among the Shona

Although some measure of unification had been achieved among the Shona under Rozvi rulers,
by the time of the nineteenth century incursions into their territory by the Ndebele and white
invaders, the Shona were fragmented into hundreds of petty chiefdoms, each controlling a bounded
territory (nyika). In most cases, two or more ruling families rotated the chieftainship around
themselves in a complex system. The chiefs came to occupy an intercalary position during the
colonial era in which they acted as tax collectors and some judicial roles whilst being paid small
salaries. Denounced as collaborators with colonial rule and some were killed during the liberation
war. After independence the chiefdoms were no longer regarded as independent administrative
units, but were aggregated into new district councils to which representatives were elected.
Chieftainship was retained as a symbol of traditional values but the chiefs were stripped of all
their administrative and judicial function while retaining their salaries and prerequisites.
7.8.4 Clientale system: Rwanda

The pastoral Tutsi comprised only a sixth of the total population but exercised political domi-
nance. This dominance was probably infiltrated the country peacefully rather than conquering it
but such infiltration was a form of conquest. In the South, the Tutsi had established firm hege-
mony over the negroid Hutu who were eighty percent of the population and in the North early
German colonial administration helped Tutsi extend their control over traditionally independent
Hutu chiefs. The pygmoid Twa were both numerically and politically insignificant in Rwandan
society. Pre colonial Rwandan government was highly centralised under the Tutsi king (mwami).
The king appointed people (Tutsi) loyal to him as chiefs overseeing the army, cattle and land. The
hill chiefs were appointed by the land and cattle chiefs on a similar basis. The highest level to
which a trustworthy Hutu client could rise in this administration was that of a hill chief, if both the
Tutsi cattle and land chief controlling that area agreed on his suitability.
In turn, the hill chiefs selected men to head the smaller administrative divisions known as
neighbourhoods though this selection was limited by considerations of patriliny (because the
neighbourhoods were the home of local descent groups) and was also subject to interference by
army chiefs. Below this neighbourhood level, heads of families were not really part of the state
administration. There were few effective controls over the right of individuals to make these
appointments in accordance with their own personal interests. The queen mother acted as an
aide to the king rather than a check on his authority. Only the Council of Great Chiefs (biru), the
hierarchy of the thirteen clans in Rwanda, could not be deposed by the monarch. Three of these
chiefs were actually in a position to manipulate the succession to the monarchy, though whether
they ever did so was impossible to tell.
All levels of pre colonial Rwandan system tended toward despotism, although the action of
political subordinates could be reversed by disapproving patrons on whom their authority de-
pended. Tutsi control on this administration rested on their ownership of cattle and their mo-
nopoly of military power both of which enabled them to set up the all pervasive system of clientage
(uBuhake). The Hutu were cattle herders and occasionally received male cattle as payment so

that they could not breed a herd. In the army the Tutsi warriors ensured that military tactics and
technology did not filter down to Hutu ancillaries.
Clientship pervaded all precolonial political relationships in Rwanda and was the primary means
of integrating highly differentiated and unequal system of administration in which the king was the
ultimate patron. The tax collecting efficiency of this administration permitted each client, as an
official, to ‘taste’ the revenue on its way upwards. It also allowed the Tutsi as a caste to live a life
of leisure, while the Hutu herded their cattle and produced the staple grains (which were consid-
ered unprestigious food the Tutsi consumed in private whilst pretending not to eat grain at all).
Activity 7.9 "

1. What is Clientship?..........................................
2. In what ways was the patron – client relationship between the Tutsi and
Hutu maintained?.............................................
7.8.5 Power sharing among the Swazi

The Swazi dual monarchy was somewhat unusual though by no means unique in sub Saharan
Africa. Power was shared between the Ngwenyama (lion king) and Ndlovukazi (she-elephant:
queen mother). The patrilineal successor to the kingship was actually chosen on the basis of the
rank of his mother. The king controlled the highest court of appeal which meted out the death
penalty for treason and witchcraft, but the queen mother’s shrine hut was a sanctuary against the
king and her court ranked second in the whole kingdom. The king also had control over cattle but
the queen mother would rebuke him publicly if he wasted national wealth. The queen mother was
the custodian of the national sacra but their power was ineffective without the king’s coopera-
tion. In practice, however the ideal of a dual monarchy seems often effectively to have given way
to a single ruler. Queen mothers sometimes had long reigns as regents for their young sons.
There are checks on the Swazi monarchical powers other than the dual monarchy itself. Two
advisory councils operated. The inner council (ligogo) comprised mainly the male agnates of the
royal family. The national council (lubandla laka Ngwane) named after the first king was very
much larger and included all chiefs, leading court counsellors and district headmen. It was re-
quired to approve decisions referred to it by the inner council, before they were implemented.
Activity 7.10 "

1. Describe the power sharing system among the Swazi.........................
2. Is it possible in practice?..................................................

7.9 Conclusion
This unit has introduced you to the concept of political organisation and its various forms as
practised in different communities. It has provided varied examples of centralized and uncentralized
political systems. Using examples from the African continent, it provided various other political
organisations such as the segmented lineage system among the Gikuyu.


Unit 8 Production and Economic Systems
Unit 8
PRODUCTION AND ECONOMIC

SYSTEMS
8.0 Introduction
This unit examines production and economic systems from different parts of the world. Produc-
tion, consumption and exchange is necessary for the sustenance of any society. There are vast
differences between the economies of isolated, small, self-sufficient societies and large-scale
ones that are integrated into the modern system of global commerce. These differences are not
only in terms of the scale of the economies. Their systems of production, distribution, and ex-
change as well as concepts of property ownership are often radically different. The unit will
examine various forms of production and exchange.
8.1 Objectives
!
At the end of this unit you should be able to do the following:
Ø Examine systems of production;
Ø Examine systems of exchange and distribution
8.2 Production
Howard (1989:136) defines production as a process that involves significant transformation of
an object for cultural purposes. An act of production often entails physically altering an object as
in chipping a stone to make a spear point, but it may simply be a matter of rearranging things to
alter their nature or function, such as piling stones to make a wall. Production is more than an act
of transformation; it is a systematically ordered series of acts set in a particular social and envi-
ronmental context. Anthropologists are not so much concerned with the productive act itself as

they are with the system of production of which the act is but a part. Systems of production
refer to how food and other necessities are produced. In other words, they are the subsistence
patterns such as foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, and intensive agriculture. Systems of distri-
bution and exchangerefer to the practices that are involved in getting the goods and services
produced by a society to its people. Regardless of the type of subsistence base, all societies
need to have mechanisms of distribution and exchange. These mechanisms, along with owner-
ship concepts, are the focus of this tutorial.
8.2.1 F or
For
ora a ging
Foraging for wild plants and hunting wild animals is the most ancient of human subsistence pat-
terns. Prior to 10,000 years ago, all people lived in this way. Hunting and gathering continued to
be the subsistence pattern of some societies well into the 20th century, especially in environmen-
tally marginal areas that were unsuited to farming or herding, such as dense tropical forests,
deserts. Foragers generally have a passive dependence on what the environment contains. They
do not plant crops and the only domesticated animals that they usually have are dogs. These
useful animals often have multiple functions for foraging peoples. They serve as pets, hunting
aids, watch-animals, camp refuse scavengers, and even surplus food when needed. Some forag-
ers in East Africa and Western North America are known to have periodically regenerated the
productivity of their environments by intentionally burning grasslands and sparse woodlands.
This encouraged the growth of tender new vegetation which attracted game animals. It is likely
that controlled burns of this sort were used by foragers elsewhere in the world as well.
8.2.2 Pastoralists
Pastoralism is a subsistence pattern in which people make their living by tending herds of large
animals. The species of animals vary with the region of the world, but they are all domesticated
herbivores that normally live in herds and eat grasses or other abundant plant foods. Horses are
the preferred species by most pastoralists in Mongolia and elsewhere in Central Asia. In East
Africa, it is primarily cattle. In the mountainous regions of Southwest Asia, it is mainly sheep and
goats. It is often camels in the more arid lowland areas of the Southwest Asia and North and
East Africa. There are essentially two forms of pastoralism. They are known as nomadism and
transhumance. Pastoral nomadsfollow a seasonal migratory pattern that can vary from year to
year. The timing and destinations of migrations are determined primarily by the needs of the herd
animals for water and fodder. T ranshumance pastoralists follow a cyclical pattern of migra-
tions that usually take them to cool highland valleys in the summer and warmer lowland valleys in
the winter. This is seasonal migration between the same two locations in which they have regular
encampments or stable villages often with permanent houses.
The animals herded by pastoralists are rarely killed for family use alone. Fresh meat is distrib-
uted throughout the community. This is the most efficient use of their animals because they
usually do not have the capability of adequately preserving meat. Not only does it ensure that no
spoilage takes place, but it also sets up numerous obligations to reciprocate within the commu-
nity. It promotes cooperation and solidarity. Often the slaughter of an animal is for a ritual

occasion so that its death serves multiple purposes. It feeds both the gods and the people. Most
pastoralists also get food from their animals without killing them. Horses, goats, sheep, cattle,
and camels are milked. In East Africa, cattle herding societies also bleed their animals. The
blood is mixed with fresh milk to make a protein rich drink. Pastoralist societies most often have
patrilineal descent patterns and are male dominated. Men usually make the important decisions
and own the animals, while women primarily care for children and perform domestic chores.
Compared to pedestrian foraging societies, the economic and political power of most pastoralist
women is very low. However, the division of labour is based primarily on gender and age in both
foraging and pastoralist societies.
8.2.3 Hor ticultur

ticulture e
Horticulture is small scale, low intensity farming. This subsistence pattern involves at least part
time planting and tending of domesticated food plants. Pigs, chickens, or other relatively small
domesticated animals are often raised for food and prestige. Many horticultural societies supple-
ment their farming subsistence base with occasional hunting and gathering of wild plants and
animals. Horticulturalist population densities are higher than those of most foragers and
pastoralists. In most cases, horticulture is more productive than foraging (with the exception of
aquatic foraging). Horticulture is still practiced successfully in tropical forest areas in the Amazon
Basin and on mountain slopes in South and Central America as well as low population density
areas of Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and Melanesia. Horticulturalists usually have a shifting
pattern of field use. When production drops due to the inevitable depletion of soil nutrients,
horticulturalists move to a new field or a long fallow one to plant their crops. They clear the wild
vegetation with a slash and burntechnique. Brush and small trees are cut down and allowed to
dry out in place. They are then burned. This simultaneously clears the field of all but large trees
and adds ash to the soil surface. The ash acts as a fertilizer. No other fertilizer is applied to the
field. As a result, soil productivity lasts only for a few years. In Zambia this system is known as
chitemene.
Horticulturalists do not have large beasts of burden to pull plows. Likewise, they don’t have
mechanized farming equipment such as tractors or rototillers. They use pointed sticks, hoes, or
other hand tools to make holes in the soil to plant their seeds, tubers, and cuttings. This is a labor
intensive but not capital intensive form of farming. Pesticides and herbicides are not used by
traditional subsistence horticulturalists. Likewise, irrigation is rarely used. An example of the
practical farming knowledge of horticulturalists was found among the Birom people of the Jos
Plateau in north central Nigeria. An important food of the Birom was the tiny seeds from a grass
that they called acha. This cereal crop was traditionally grown in fields without the use of added
fertilizers. During the first half of the 20th century when Nigeria was still a British colony, colonial
officials concluded that the Birom were ignorant of the effects of fertilizer because they did not
put manure on their fields. In fact, the acha crops failed when the Birom were induced by
government officials to fertilize them. Acha grows too quickly in enriched soils, falls over from its
own weight, and rots before its seeds are ripe. Following this failed experiment, the Birom were
allowed to return to their traditional farming practices. Like pastoralists, many horticultural soci-
eties in the past carried out periodic inter-village raiding in which people were killed. The goal
was usually revenge for perceived wrongs and, at times, the theft of women, children, dogs, and

other things of value. The horticulturalists of New Guinea and the Amazon Basin were particu-
larly interested in raiding their neighbors. The Yanomamö of Venezuela and Brazil are one of the
most well documented aggressive horticultural peoples.
8.2.4 Intensive Agriculture

Intensive agriculture is the primary subsistence pattern of large-scale, populous societies. It
results in much more food being produced per acre compared to other subsistence patterns.
Beginning about 5,000 years ago, the development of intensive farming methods became neces-
sary as the human population grew in some major river valleys to levels beyond the carrying
capacity of the environment using horticulture and pastoralism. The transition to intensive agri-
culture was originally made possible by water management systems and the domestication of
large animals for pulling plows. The first intensive agricultural societies were the ancient civiliza-
tions in Egypt, Mesopotamia (now Iraq and eastern Syria), India and Pakistan, North China,
Mesoamerica, and Western South America. Today, intensive agriculture is the primary food
production pattern in all developed nations except those that are too arid or too cold for any form
of farming outside of greenhouses. Over the last century, large-scale agricultural techniques
spread rapidly throughout the world with the introduction of farm machines driven by internal
combustion engines and the availability of commercially produced fertilizers, pesticides, and her-
bicides. This essentially resulted in the industrialization of farming in the richer nations.
The transition to intensive agriculture brought with it a number of inevitable major social changes.
Permanent year round settlements became necessary because the food source was immobile.
As a consequence, more time and effort were expended in building houses that would last for
generations. Surplus crops produced by farmers were sold in village markets. Some of these
market centers increased in population over time and became towns and eventually cities. There
was an evolution of a complex division of labor. Many new kinds of jobs appeared, including
merchants, craftsmen, professional soldiers, priests, rulers, and bureaucrats. The emerging ur-
ban centers were occupied mainly by these non-food-producing specialists and their families.
The ancient civilizations became rigidly divided into social classes. The economic and political
power of farmers was dramatically decreased as elite groups headed by kings increasingly mo-
nopolized power. The ruling class ended up controlling the sources of wealth such as land,
water, manufacturing, and trade. This required a radical change in the concept of ownership. In
most small-scale societies with less intensive subsistence patterns, economically important prop-
erties, such as land and water wells, usually are not owned in the sense that we think of owner-
ship today. Rather, this property is kept in stewardship for the society as a whole. In many of the
poor developing nations in the tropical regions of the world, plantation agriculturehas increas-
ingly replaced subsistence horticulture. Plantations are large, labor-intensive farms that mostly
produce fruit, sugar, fiber, or vegetable oil products for the international market. The laborers
usually work for very low wages that keep them in poverty. Many of the plantations of Indone-
sia, Philippines, Central America, the Caribbean, and West Africa are owned by multinational
corporations such as Dole and the National Fruit Company. The net effect of this form of agri-

culture generally has been the flow of wealth from poor nations in the southern hemisphere to rich
ones in the northern hemisphere.
Activity 8.1 "

1. Define the following production systems using example:
a) Foraging......................................................
b) Pastoralism.............................................................
c) Horticulture.........................................................
d) Intensive agriculture.....................................................
2. Examine the advantages and disadvantages of the four systems of
production mentioned above...............................
.............................................................
8.3 Land tenure and land rights

In Africa, tenurial systems have often been defined as communal or community based, whereas in
fact they have individualised rights of use or usufruct rights (Cheater 1986). Tenurial systems are
not static; they change over time for example fully individualised control of virgin land by the
person who cleared it for the first time, may change into a system of joint ownership and lineage
control in two or three generations time or an ostensibly communal system maybe individualised
by the growth of a land market in that society under the impact of land scarcity and/or new
economic opportunities.
Furthermore both ecology and investment also seem to influence land tenure. There are some
alluvial areas of natural fertility in the great African river basin such as the Zambezi, where for
example the Tonga river gardens were individually owned and inherited. In other areas as among
the Kofyar of Jos plateau in Nigeria or the Matengo of Tanzania labour and/capital have been
invested in terracing and deep manuring hill slopes to make infertile lands productive often under
circumstances of external aggression. Such lands have tended to be individualised in perpetuity in
their patterns of ownership and control. In certain parts of Africa, the concepts of rights to land
approached quite closely those western countries, where ownership implies full rights of control,
use and disposal (including by sale, lease or mortgage) of property, mitigated only by the residual
over rights of the state to claim land for public use in return for market based compensation.
Generally the concept of ownership in pre colonial African societies had much more limited
connotations of specific usufruct control which is why terminal systems were to frequently
misperceived as communal. Cheater (1986) distinguished between control based on political
authority, kinship, spatial contiguity, which generated feudal lineages and village systems of tenure
respectively.

8.3.1 F eudal systems

Feudal
Ethiopia before 1974 had the gult system. In the gult system, tributary rights to land were de-
volved upon individual or corporate administrators by the monarchy. In returning for collecting
taxes on behalf of the state, these gult holders were supported by part of this revenue derived
from peasants working their land. Gult fiefs could be withdrawn by the monarchy and could not
be disposed of by their holders although they often became hereditary as most gult holdings
within the families of the aristocrats and influential clerics.
Whether or not the Ethiopian gult system and similar systems in the interlacustine monarchies of
East Africa (Buganda, Bonyoro) are identical to mediaeval European fiefdoms, they have been
described as examples of feudal land ownership since they depended on politico-administrative
endowment from the monarch whilst others held rights usufruct to the land concerned.
8.3.2 Lineage based tenurial system

Most common in West Africa but there ambiguity is best revealed by the Gikuyu of Kenya.
Kenyatta (1938) argued very strongly that every inch of land within Gikuyu territory had its
owner, but not everyone would accept his characterisation of mbari or family land as individualised.
The Gikuyu had individual purchase of land from the Ndorobo (hunters and gatherers) thus there
is individual control. The problem began with the death of the original owner and the inheritance
of the land by all of his sons jointly and equally. When this happened the eldest son became the
moramiti or trustee of the interests of the whole sibling group. The Gikuyu could lease land to
tenants (Ahoi) who obtained cultivation rights in exchange for payment in kind (notably alcohol)
or as athami who gained both cultivation and residence rights. Affines (athoni) and adoptees
(anarwa) could also be allocated portions of land by the individual holders though all of these
allocations had to be approved collectively by the owners of the mbari land.
8.3.3 Village based systems

The Igbo live in villages which are aggregated into village groups, each of which was formerly
autonomous under the political control of a village council composed of all adult men but domi-
nated by those holding the most important village titles. Village council determined land use and
could bar new strangers from access to land for farming or household. In seeking to understand
any system of land tenure then, useful place to start with is the political community which in the
wildest sense owns the land falling within its boundaries. In most pre-colonial African societies
the polity was centralised in a monarchy or equivalent. The king or chief was seen as the ultimate
owner of land (and often cattle as well) as in Ethiopia, Lou of Zambia and Tutsi of Rwanda.
Political owners of land delegated authority over to those who were primary right holders – those
administrative subordinates (usually village heads) who actually allocated land for cultivation. In
return these primary right holders devolved responsibility for particular portions of land to sec-
ondary right holders, usually household heads. They usually disaggregated the land still further
and allocated specific plots to tertiary holders, including their wives or married sons. In Shona
society for example everyone had the right to use public pathways and springs or even to bury
their dead. This is what we refer to as the open access regime.

Activity 8.2 "

1. Examine various tenurial systems existent in African
societies...........................................................................................
........................................................................................................
8.4 Land reform and redistribution

This is meant to guarantee people access to land under less exploitative conditions. In China
landlessness in the pre-liberation era caused enormous rural suffering. When Mao took over, the
government quickly from the simple redistribution of land under existing conditions of its owner-
ship and control by chia (expanded family or independent household) to a form of collectivisation
that destroyed the identification of particular households with land. Unlike the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, China did not nationalise land. Instead it enforced collective ownership at the
Xiang or administrative village level. To this extent, the collectivisation of land in China resembled
that of the traditional Igbo system described earlier and achieved much the same objectives.
If problems of productivity and appropriation have plagued socialist land reforms quite different
problems have been characteristic of land reforms in other developing economies. In Africa
attempts have been made to change customary patterns of tenure mainly through resettlement of
people on state owned land to which customary tenure has been legislated not to apply. Classi-
cally irrigation schemes have fallen into this category. In colonial Kenya and Zimbabwe direct
assaults have been made on customary forms of tenure. In Kenya under the Swynerton plan
there was a direct attack on the domination of Gikuyu cultural precepts on land. Since the mid
1950s individual land parcels have been surveyed and registered in an attempt to regulate the
land market. In Southern Rhodesia, the Native Land Husbandry Act of 1951 tried to register
arable and grazing rights in what were known as the Native Reserves, largely that the state might
be able to hold individuals accountable for their husbandry practices and ecological conserva-
tion. One of the most important effects of such changes has been to destroy secondary or infor-
mal usufract rights, together with the latent rights of temporary absentees and occasionally even
to encroach on existing formal or primary rights as the case of Tanzania shows.
At independence in Zimbabwe the government generally maintained the skewed colonial land
ownership patterns where minority whites controlled the vast majority of land. This was mainly
due to the constraints placed on the government by the Lancaster House agreement which was
signed in England between the white colonial government and freedom fighters. The agreement
ensured that for the first ten years of independence land ownership patterns would not change
drastically. There was though limited land redistribution through acquiring farms on a willing seller
willing buyer principle. Most of this land was however in the arid regions and was inadequate for
the vast demand for land. After the agreement lapsed in 1992 the government passed the Land
Acquisition Act which sought to radicalise land reform by acquiring more farms from whites but

with the adoption of structural adjustment programmes, the focus turned to promoting large scale
commercial farmers. This delay in rectifying the land question sowed seeds for the widespread
farm occupations that occurred in 2000. War veterans and other like minded individuals with the
blessings of the ruling party moved onto white owned farms. This culminated in a radical land
redistribution exercise which changed land ownership structure in the country. The vast majority
of land is now owned by the state with new black farmers having usufruct rights.
Activity 8.3 "

1. Using examples highlight various land reform programmes that have
occurred across the world............................
8.5 Consumption
Consumption is defined as the use of material goods necessary for human survival- for example
by eating food or wearing clothing. Most anthropologists agree on the fact that consumption is
the third subdivided phase of economic activity, the first two being production and distribution. It
has been suggested that the priorities of consumption determine the production and exchange
patterns, not the other way around. There are two types of consumption: personalized con-
sumption is knowing the person who produces the goods to meet your needs, and depersonal-
ized consumptionis when a vaguely understood global system produces goods that meet your
needs. There is also the difference in market and non-market based consumption. A market
based consumptioncreates perceived needs and wants for what the market has to offer. A
non-market based consumptiontargets satisfying minimum needs or requirements for survival.
Activity 8.4 "

1. Define the term consumption....................................
2. Explain the difference between market based consumption and non
market based consumption........................................................
8.6 Distribution and Exchange

When goods and services are given away, purchased, sold, or traded, there are potentially two
components of the exchange—pure economic gain and social gain. Both of these motives usu-
ally occur at the same time in non-market economies. However, in market economies, the social
component is often missing except when the exchange is between relatives or friends. With
strangers, the social gain is usually sacrificed for efficiency and speed. Important exchange items
in non-market economies include many more things than just food and manufactured objects.
The most valued gifts are likely to be courtesies, entertainment (e.g., songs, dances, and speeches),
curing, military assistance, women (to be wives), and children. Gift exchanges are usually recip-
rocal. That is to say, if you receive a gift, you are obliged to repay it with another gift. Reciproc-

ity typically results in a continuing sequence of giving, receiving, and repaying gifts. Breaking this
obligation to continue the reciprocity is commonly seen as a slight or even a rejection of the other
person involved in the exchange. Reciprocity is a binding mechanism in that its continuance helps
to hold friends and families together. Reciprocal exchanges generally do not redistribute a society’s
wealth in a way that causes some people to become richer than others. Rather, they usually
result in a circulation of goods and services. There is not a net economic loss for individuals
because they ultimately receive gifts in return.
8.6.1 Types of reciprocity

Reciprocity is the first and most ancient mode of exchange within cultures around the world. This
term can be understood by the three different subcategories that help to define it; they are gener-
alized reciprocity, balanced reciprocity, and negative reciprocity. Generalized reciprocityis
expressed by the exchanging of goods or items with no explicit date or time set for returning
them. Along with this, there is normally no discussion about what the value or return must be for
the exchange, so the amount or value that is returned is not necessarily the same as the value of
the goods given to the person.
Balanced reciprocityon the other hand is when the two parties that are engaging in the ex-
change expect a full replacement of the goods, and there is most likely an amount of time set that
the item needs to be returned or paid for by. In other words, the amount a person gives another
person is expected to be completely paid or given back within a matter of time that is set between
the two people or groups that are taking part in the exchange. The Ju/’hoansi, who use reciproc-
ity in their societies in all forms, use balanced reciprocity. They distinguish between what they
barter, which requires immediate balanced exchange, including hxaro, which establishes that this
exchange entitles obligations between the two in the future.
Finally, negative reciprocityis also represented by an exchange of goods, items, or even ser-
vices, however one of the persons or parties tries to get the item for no charge. By doing this they
hope that the other party will not attempt to make them return or pay for the service or item, and
that they will be able to obtain whatever it is for free.
Activity 8.5 "

1. What is reciprocity.............................................................................
2. Explain the various types of reciprocity.............................................
8.6.2 Redistributive exchanges

Some economic exchanges are intended to distribute a society’s wealth in a different way than
exists at present. These are referred to as redistributive exchanges. They usually function as
economic levelling mechanisms. Redistribution is a mode of exchange that involves some sort of

centralized social organization. Members of a group contribute items such as food, money, cloth-
ing, etc. to the central organization, and the organization then redistributes the items to the mem-
bers of the group. In the Western World, charity and progressive income tax systems are ex-
amples of redistributive exchanges. Progressive income taxes are intended to make people with
greater wealth give at higher rates than those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Some of the
tax money is then allocated to help the poorer members of society.
Redistributive exchanges are not unique to the Western World. In fact, some of the most elabo-
rate ones that we know of have been in small-scale societies with non-market economies. The
potlatch among the Indian cultures of the Northwest Coast region of North America is a good
example. This was a complex system of competitive feasting, speechmaking, and gift giving
intended in part to enhance the status of the giver. While potlatches were important traditions of
Indian communities from Oregon to Southern Alaska, they are most well known among the
Kwakiutl people of northern Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Strait in Western Canada.
For the Kwakiutl, potlatches were important social gatherings held to celebrate major life events
such as a son’s marriage, the birth of a child, a daughter’s first menses, and the initiation of a
sister’s son into a secret society. They also were used to assert or transfer ownership of eco-
nomic and ceremonial privileges. It sometimes took years to accumulate the things needed for a
big potlatch. Loans (with interest) had to be called in from relatives for this purpose. When all
was ready, high ranking, influential people from the local and other communities were invited for
several days of feasting and entertaining. Guests were seated according to their relative status.
The host made speeches and dramatically gave gifts of food, Hudson Bay Company blankets,
canoes, slaves, rare native copper artifacts, and other valuable items to the guests. The guests
with higher status received more. The host sometimes also destroyed money, wasted fish oil by
throwing it on a fire, and did other things to show that he was willing to economically bankrupt
himself in order to increase his social status. The acceptance of the gifts was an affirmation of the
host’s generosity and subsequently of his increased status. The feast and the gifts essentially
placed the guests in debt to their host until they could at some future time invite him to their own
potlatch and give him more than he gave them—in essence a return on an investment. The
potlatch served as a tool for one-upmanship for important Kwakiutl men.
Among many of the indigenous societies of New Guinea, elaborate redistributive exchanges
similar to the potlatch have been very important cultural traditions. In order to increase personal
status and become a respected “big man,” senior men often spent years accumulating pigs and
other valuable, exotic items such as cassowaries (large birds similar to emus and ostriches) in
order to give them away at elaborate ritual feasts. As in the case of the potlatch, recipients of
pigs and other valuable things were obliged to return gifts of greater value at some time in the
future. Failure to do so would be unthinkable because of the loss of respect and status that
would result. Perhaps the most well known of the New Guinea pig give-away traditions was
among the Kawelka of the Central Highlands. As a result of trade with the outside world, the
Kawelka pig give-away events had grown in scale by the 1970’s to include motorbikes, trucks,
and tens of thousands of Australian dollars. At times, the total value of the goods given away
reached hundreds of thousands of dollars. This was an extraordinarily large fortune for essen-
tially subsistence base horticultural societies. It is important to keep in mind that most of this

wealth actually circulated within the society. As a result, there was very little net loss. However,
a small number of the pigs were eaten and the cassowaries were usually killed for their feathers.
Activity 8.6 "

1. What are redistributive exchanges?.........................................
2. Examine the system of potlatch..................................
3. Explain the system of big men found in New Guinea.........
8.6.3 Commerce between small scale societies

Commerce among small-scale societies in the past usually involved more institutionalized bal-
anced reciprocity than is found in the international trade system today. In addition, commerce
generally involved considerably more social gain. An example of such inter-societal commerce
among small-scale societies was the Kula Ringof the Southwest Pacific Ocean. This was an
extensive network of inter-island trade to the east and northeast of New Guinea. The Kula Ring
was studied firsthand among the Trobriand Islanders during World War I by Bronislaw Malinowski.
At that time, it still operated largely in its purely indigenous form. The Kula Ring was a closed
trading system in which only established senior male trading partners from each island could
participate. The trade was carried out with large outrigger sailing canoes. Long, dangerous sea
voyages were undertaken for the purpose of this trade. On the surface, it appeared to be prima-
rily an exchange of gift items and ceremonial feasting organized to reinforce bonds between
senior trading partners. The trade network was essentially circular. If a trader was travelling in
a clockwise direction around the circuit, he would give long necklaces of red shells (soulava) as
gifts to his trading partner. If he was travelling in a counter clockwise direction, he would give
armbands of white shells (mwali). These necklaces and armbands were the kula items.
The way in which traders greeted each other on arriving at an island and carried out their trade
was prescribed by tradition. While the senior trading partners formally greeted each other and
reinforced their friendship and authority by giving kula gifts, the younger men usually unloaded
more practical trade items on the beach to be bartered. These were mostly surplus luxury items
from their home islands. The kula gifts were exchanged with the assumption of generalized
reciprocity. The regular trade goods were mostly traded in a manner that resulted in balanced
reciprocity. If asked why they were undertaking these long distance trading expeditions, the
would very likely emphasize the social rather than the economic gain. However, both were the
result.
Activity 8.7 "

1. Illustrate the Kula Ringof the Trobriand
Islanders..............................................

8.7 Conclusion
This unit has examined various productive systems. It highlighted land tenurial systems opera-
tional in various societies. Various systems of distribution and exchange were discussed. Ex-
amples from societies from across the world were shown to highlight how production and econo-
mies are organised in various societies.

Unit 9 Law and Order
Unit 9
LAW AND ORDER
9.0 Introduction
This Unit considers the issue of law and order in both industrial and pre industrial societies. It
builds upon the previous unit by showing how dispute settlement is relative to time and context.
Consideration is made to the fact that stateless does not mean disorder or disorganization.
9.1 Objectives
!
By the end of this Unit, you should be able to:
1. Define law and order
2. Explain how law and order are maintained in state societies
3. Demonstrate how stateless societies maintain order
9.2 Law enforcement and dispute mediation

Members of societies frequently systematize norms and elevate them to the status of laws. A law
is a binding rule, created through enactment or custom, that defines right behavior (Michael
Howard, 1989:331). An important aspect of any law is the underlying threat by those in authority
to use force to ensure obedience or to punish wrongdoers. These laws are put in place to ensure
order, consensus or a state of equilibrium in societies.

In all societies, there are people whose actions fall beyond established legal limits and some
whose interpretation or acceptance of the law differs. All societies have therefore developed
formal and informal mechanisms for enforcing their laws and handling disputes. Laws can be
written or unwritten.
While all societies have ideas about what is proper and improper behavior and means of ensuring
conformity, precisely, how order and its maintenance are viewed can vary a great deal. Societies
also vary in the extent to which compliance with laws or norms is expected. At one extreme are
societies where compliance is strongly emphasized where it is seen as the only means by which
the society can survive or achieve fundamental goals. At the other extreme are societies that are
more tolerant emphasizing manipulation and bargaining among individuals. There are also differ-
ences in the kind of behavior tolerated. Laws affect segments of societies differently.
9.2.1 Handling disputes in foraging societies

Due to the small, close knit nature of these societies, disputes and tensions are often handled at
interpersonal level through discussions or fights. Others may get informally involved in disputes
too. Shaming, gossip and ridicule are particularly common means by which members of a forag-
ing band seek to settle quarrels. The BaMbuti of central Africa utilize public mimickry, individuals
recognized as clowns mimicking the disputants in such a way as to reduce tensions. The primary
emphasis is on maintenance of social order as people try to reestablish social equilibrium through
informal means.
Disputes are not always easily settled, however, and sometimes it becomes necessary to try to
end the tensions on a more formal basis. A common means of easing tensions among foragers is
dispersal: bands split up to avoid further quarrels. Some foraging societies use more elaborate
means of settling disputes. In many Australian Aboriginal societies, individuals accused of wrong
doing were able to get a public hearing at certain ceremonial gatherings and could be forgiven
through the ritual of penis holding, in the case of a man or giving herself sexually to the men
involved in the hearing in the case of a woman (Berndt, 1965). Reciprocity is the focal point of
such actions. Injured individuals or parties are to be compensated in some way. Compensation
tends to be negotiable. Groups may negotiate over the precise nature of goods or services they
are to receive. Where death is demanded, they may negotiate over who, how many and what
class of people are to be killed.
Feuding are a significant characteristic of dispute settlement in small scale societies. Feuding
involves violence between different families or groups of kin. The feud is the most universal form
of intergroup aggression, in part because of its limited requirements: all that is needed is enough
people to find something to fight over. A common type of feud among the Australian Aborigines
is called the avenging party where quarrels usually begin when a man steals a wife from some
other group or when someone’s death is blamed on sorcery by a member of a distant group. The
aggrieved party will then form a group to attack those believed to be responsible. Physical
violence is not always avoided. A common feature of such feuds is that acts of violence are not

Unit 9 Law and Order
necessarily carried out against specific individuals but are aimed at any individual who is a mem-
ber of the kin group.
Activity 9.1 "

1. In what ways can informal methods of dispute settlement be regarded
as unlawful in today’s contexts?
…………………………
2. Can you identify informal methods of settling disputes that are common
in your society?
……………………
9.2.2 F or mal la
For laww enf
enforor cement in sta
orcement tes
states
Warfare and evolution of states are closely interrelated. Larger socio-political units were created
through conquest and were supported through the extraction of tribute from conquered peoples.
Religion often played an important role in religitimising conquests. Large scale societies orga-
nized into states have different legal requirements and legal systems compared to small scale
societies. The increased scale and complexity of states makes it difficult to rely on informal and
interpersonal means of settling disputes. While gossip, shaming and respect for the role obliga-
tions remain important means of ensuring order, the state apparatus also relies on specialized
institutions for defining and upholding laws such as judiciary and police. Ostracism is also prac-
ticed to encourage social order, in the form of imprisonment or deportation.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of:
a) formal methods of dispute settlement?
……………………………...
b) informal methods of dispute settlement?
……………………………
2. In what way does religion legitimize conquests?
9.3 Conc lusion

Conclusion
Dispute settlement and maintenance of order vary from one society to another. Some small scale
societies rely on informal interpersonal methods or more formal dispersal or decision making
methods to deal with disputes. Feuding is most common in small scale societies. In large scale
societies people have so much to fight over that law enforcement and dispute mediation are
institutionalized


Unit 10 Leadership
Unit 10
LEADERSHIP
10.1 Introduction
This unit looks at an important concept and practice in the existence of humanity across cultures.
For a better understanding of this unit revisit the case materials that we covered in unit 7 and unit
9. All societies despite the seemingly primitiveness have forms of leadership. You might have
come across various theories on leadership such as the Trait theory, the Great Events theory,
Transformational leadership theory and many others. However, in this course we will look at the
ideas of Barth (1959,1966&1967) and Bailey (1960,1969,1971,1991&1988) on transac-
tional theory.
10.2 Objectives
!
Ø Define leadership and distinguish it from authority
Ø Outline Bailey and Barth’s transactional theory
Ø Analyse how leaders attain credit
Activity 10.3
1. Attempt to define leadership
"
………………………....................................................................…..
2. Can you identify duties of leaders
………………………………………………………..…………….

10.4 Leadership defined

Leadership is an important aspect of political systems and in political anthropology the analysis of
the cultural definition and social enactment of leadership roles is an important area of enquiry .
Leadership should be distinguished from authority, as persons who exercise effective leadership
are not necessarily those who occupy political office or positions of authority. Leadership is
generally measured by taking of decisions, the leader being the one making decisions himself or
herself, or is the focal point of decision making by the group. Thus leadership occurs in a multi-
plicity of contexts of social action including for example in work groups, family or kin groups and
is not always part of a political system. Leadership is defined as a process by which a person
influences others to accomplish a objective and directs the group in a way that makes it more
cohesive and coherent . Leadership is called for particularly in conditions of uncertainty and
when there is a need to take decisions which are also innovations . As mentioned above in this
unit we will focus on the transactional theory in our study of leadership.
Transactional theory was the outcome of a change in anthropology in the 1950s . Increasingly
anthropology became disenchanted with neo-functionalism, particularly Durkhiemian postulation
which emphasizes an individual who is a bearer as well as product of a particular culture. It
locates an individual as structurally determined and properly socialized role incumbent. Transac-
tional theory was shifting from this previously held view. Lets now look at the major proposition
of transactional theorists.
10.5 Key tenets of transactional theory

Transactional theory brought into Anthropology a novel perspective in anthropological theorizing
and central to it is the following
a) the individual is not a structurally determined and properly socialized role incumbent,
b) the individual is a rebel, innovator, deviant and above all a thinking manipulator of
people and custom, always with an eye to his advantage . The advantage may be long or
short term, economic, social, political or religious. For example not all converts to a reli-
gion convert to it for spiritual reasons and not all followers of political parties share the
political ideals of the party.
Transactionalism can be substituted in colloquial language by the principle of you “scratch my

back and I will scratch yours” .Transactional theory borrows much from Malinowski and also
from Marx. Malinowski’s ideas in transactional theory are found in the emphasis by transactional
theorists in individuals predisposition to manipulate and think in the pursuit of advantages in
interaction process. Barth (1959) unraveled the complexity of individual action which went be-
yond simplicity of function and Marxism where men are seen as Homoeconomical or
Homopoliticus. Thus Barth is considered as the originator of transactional theory .

Unit 10 Leadership
Bailey was influenced by Barth and went on to develop much detailed works using the transac-
tional model to understand social processes in both highly developed societies and those that are
less developed.
To understand this better lets first of all look at Bailey’s ideas on society. Bailey agrees that
society is a complex entity and that individuals belong to a diverse cross section of structural
domains. Individuals are members of a tribe, nation, industrial/ professional organizations. In
various situations the individual is involved in a multiplicity of transactions. From the onset we
should observe that Bailey is preoccupied with both macro and micro political processes. Bailey
is also eager to understand the contest and struggle that characterizes social life .Bailey observes
that all social groupings exhibit constant characteristics which makes them amenable to under-
stand through the process of transactional analysis. According to Bailey anthropological societies
and modern societies are alike enough to be comparable. Beneath the differences imposed by
race, colour and customs, social life is often ordered in fundamentally similar ways in both an-
thropological and modern societies. For Bailey the rules that govern social exchange are funda-
mentally similar even if the composition and nature of these groupings are different. Transactional
theory is a vehement criticism of Marxism, structural functionalism and Weberian theory espe-
cially with their preoccupation in explaining social life.
10.6 Bailey on leadership and followers

Baileys proposition on leaders and followers have been acclaimed in anthropology because they
show the weakness of the Weberian postulations which arbitrarily asserts that in bureaucratic
modern organisations and societies rational legal authority is supported by a set of invaluable
laws and rules. These rules include periodic and regular holding of elections to select leaders. It
is also based on fixed terms of office. Furthermore Weber’s model is seen as weak because of
asserting that leaders are saintly and incorruptible. This Bailey refutes unreservedly and instead
argues that leaders are deceitful , susceptible to lying and maneuvering followers in the quest to
maintain their hegemony. Bailey notes that it is erroneous to assume that followers are merely
manipulated, instead followers can also manipulate leaders. Both followers and leaders have
opportunities to manipulate each other. Competition is central to Bailey’s transactional theory
particularly as it manifests itself in social action,. Individuals engage in competition to gain favourable
outcomes in interaction. For most individuals the overriding desire to engage in competition lies in
the desire to achieve leadership. Competition therefore is an enduring social process. Competi-
tion is therefore an enduring social process because leaders are always formulating and reformu-
lating strategies to ensure that they continue to enjoy authority . The aspect of competition intro-
duces a completely new direction to our understanding of leadership which the Weberian model
circumvents due to its preoccupation with rational legal arguments on leadership. For Bailey
there is an ugly side to leadership which has become the subject of sociological and anthropo-
logical enquiry in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust . This holocaust left the world dumbfounded .
Proponents of the Frankfurt School based at the Barth university who include Adorno carried
out comprehensive studies on leadership with emphasis on the ugly side of leadership. These
studies developed a scale to measure authoritarianism , the Fascist scale. These studies and
Bailey’s own studies drew up the following conclusions

i) That leadership is not always sacrosanct
ii) Leadership involves a lot of deceit and malfunction
iii) Leadership also involves defilement
iv) And most of these ugly things are normally directed towards followers
Leaders have room to be saints/villains because the line that separates good from bad conduct is
drawn were the good parties choose to draw it because the leaders have power to make their
choice prevail. Bailey (1988) argues that the measure of a leaders’ effectiveness lies in his or her
ability to exempt himself from the normative constraints of his society. This exemption can be
achieved by way of persuading followers that it is okay for leaders to behave that way. If persua-
sion fails leaders may conceal their improper behavior either through the use of communication
medium and propaganda. Leadership should be analysed in the context of a broad context which
includes the whole spectrum of material and intrinsic resources, social processes that include
propaganda and the control of communication. Every resources is both a constraint and an
advantage. Followers can be both resources and constraints . For Bailey followers are stratified
into categories and that each category requires its own mode of control.
Activity 10.7 "

1. From your sociological knowledge outline the characteristics of
bureaucracy according to Max Weber ?
……………… ……………………………………………………..
2. Compare and contrast the identified traits with Baileys ideas?
……………………………………………………………………………….
10.8 Bailey on bureaucracy

Bailey attempts is to demystify bureaucracy. He argues that bureaucracy is not the preserve of
Western societies. He gives an example of bridewealth negotiations among the Orissa of India
and like in bureaucratic organizations reflect prior planning. While there may be heated debates
on the final bride price for hours , the actual bride price will have been decided prior to the
negotiations. In southern Africa this practice is also present among the Shona and the Ndebele
during lobola/ marriage payments negotiations . The view that anthropological societies are
irrational is therefore misplaced because there is rationality in the way these societies are ordered
and organized. The view that anthropological societies are irrational is an attempt to perpetuate
inequality between and among races, cultures and regions of the world. For Bailey bureaucracy
has a propensity to mislead people. The system of committees, an integral part of bureaucracy is
fraught with problems and is used to churn out untruths about issues. For example Bailey identi-

Unit 10 Leadership
fies a common statement in most committee reports, “after ……….hours of deliberation the
committee found so and so guilty as charged”.
10.9 Leadership as an enterprise

For Bailey leadership can be visualized as an enterprise. To be successful as a leader is to gain
access to more resources than one’s opponents and to use them with greater skill. To attack an
opponent is to try and destroy his resources or in other ways to prevent him from having access
to them or from making effective use of them. (Bailey 1969) points out that although it sounds
paradoxical , the opposition which exists between two political parties or rivals also exists in
some degree between a leader and his followers. This can be seen as one of relative access to
resources. A leader is able to influence and direct his followers actions by expenditure of re-
sources.
10.10 Leaders tasks

Let’s look at some of the tasks of leaders . Leaders tasks involves recruitment and maintenance
of his group. Essentially this consists of binding followers by the use of two kinds of resources
:material and moral, that is by rewards or propagating an ideology, both of which can be visual-
ized as the leaders credit balancing with his followers. This credit balancing is also affected by the
leaders success or failure in carrying out judicial and administrative tasks within the group. A
skilled performance of these tasks increases the leaders credit , mistakes and failures must be
countered by bribery or by intensifying propaganda.
10.11 Judicial tasks

One of the essential skills in leading a group is judging how far they can be deceived . From time
to time a leader of a political group has to pay off some of his political debts to his followers. If he
has raised the expectations too high, then those who are disappointed may decide to cut their
losses and find another leader. But before this happens the followers are likely to anticipate that
a handout of spoils is due and to put pressure on their leader to give them their due share even if
it means others have to fall short. Competition arise within the team between followers to in-
crease their own share in the distribution of scarce spoils and the leader is then forced to adopt a
judicial role. Leaders can either choose to be a mediator or an arbitrator.
10.12 Mediation
Mediation is the least expensive role which the leader can adopt when their followers are in
competition. As a mediator the leader offers to here both sides of the case and then suggests a
suitable compromise. The extent of his commitment is to offer his opinion which the disputants
may accept or not as they like. The process is less costly for the mediator insofar as he does not
have to commit resources to sanctioning the decision and forcing it upon the losing party or upon

both parties if neither happen to be satisfied. Mediation is only effective if both parties agree to
the compromise.
Mediation is cheap , for one reason because if it successful both parties consent and in theory at
least, are ready to co-operate from that time onwards. Arbitration , insofar as both parties are
invited to state their case, has some element of this, but there is in the end a greater risk that one
litigant will be disappointed , will resent being forced to carry out the decision , will withdraw the
political credit that he had given to the leader and if he can leave the group.
10.13 Arbitration
For a leader arbitration is an altogether more serious and costly process than mediation, and, all
other things being equal he will arbitrate when he judges that the long-run costs of leaving the
dispute unsettled will be too high . Bailey (1969) notes that the very act of announcing that a
leader will arbitrator rather than mediate , mortgages resources which have to be held in readi-
ness for enforcing the decision should that prove necessary . This does not always mean that the
leader is always reluctant to arbitrate and does so only when he fears that continued disputing will
break up his team. He may also judge that the time is ripe to make an assertion of his leadership
and show that he has resources to enforce his will, if that proves necessary. In other words an
arbitrated decision is not merely a means of keeping order, it is also a means of broadcasting
messages that the leaders’ political credit is good.
Apart from mediation and arbitration in certain kinds of moral teams leaders avoid this danger of
personal involvement by having God decide. There are many forms which this may take. It may
merely mean that the leader announces that he has prayed for guidance or has seen a vision. Then
it is God’s wrath which the recusant risks and not the leaders. The same effect is achieved by the
use of various mechanical devices for ascertaining the divine will ordeals for the litigants, oracles
, drawing lots and so forth
The leaders’ aim is both to keep his group strong and his own position secure with the least
possible expenditure of resources in doing so. This of course is oversimplified because these
aims sometimes contradict. Leaders will be found stirring up dissensions among their followers
and perhaps so arranging things that some disgruntled follower will leave the team in disgust. This
kind of activity shows that he is not trying to maintain the whole group intact, but rather to
maintain his own position as a leader even at the risk of losing some of his followers.
Leaders have at their disposal what are known as normative rules and pragmatic rules to maintain
their hegemony. We shall look at each of these below.
10.14 Normative rules

They are very general guides to conduct , they are used to judge particular actions ethically right
or wrong and within a particular political structure they can be used to justify publicly a course of

Unit 10 Leadership
conduct. Note well that Bailey argues that normative rules do not prescribe a particular kind of
action, but rather set broad limits to possible actions . They leave some choice about what
exactly the player will do. Some normative rules such as ‘honesty’ or sportsmanship are ex-
tremely vague and the most desperate kind of conduct can be condemned or defended in their
name . Rules which express ultimate and publicly accepted values are called normative rules .
10.15 Pragmatic rules

Pragmatic rules are statements about whether a particular line of conduct is just or unjust but
about whether or not it will be effective. They are normatively neutral. Bailey (1969) notes that
pragmatic rules may operate within the limits set by the rules of the game or they may not. They
range from rules of gamesmanship that is how to win without actually cheating to rules which
advise on how to win by cheating without being disqualified .
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

1) Distinguish leadership from authority
…………………………………………………………………………………..
2)Analyse the credit accumulation exercise by leaders
………………………………………………………………………………….
10.16 Conclusion
The unit has unpacked leadership from an anthropological perspective invoking the ideas of
Barth and Bailey to disavow the bureaucratic conceptualization of leaders. It has looked at
leadership as an enterprise that involves a lot of strategizing of leaders in an attempt to outcompete
their opponents and to manipulate their followers. However individuals are not merely manipu-
lated but they also manipulate their leaders.


Unit 11 Conclusion: Applied Anthropology
Unit 11
CONCLUSION: APPLIED
ANTHROPOLOGY
11.0 Introduction
Having looked at a number of human problems throughout this module, this unit considers ap-
plied anthropology, an approach to solving these problems.
11.1 Objectives
!
By the end of this Unit, you should be able to:
1. Explain and apply anthropology to solve human problems
2. Demonstrate anthropology’s role in development
11.2 What is applied anthropology?

Applied Anthropology refers to the application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory,
and methods to identify, assess, and solve social problems. Applied anthropology uses the theo-
ries, methods, and ethnographic findings of anthropology to solve human problems. Applied
anthropologists work for groups that promote, manage, and assess programs aimed at influenc-
ing human social conditions.
Applied anthropology began to grow in the 1970s as anthropologists found jobs with interna-
tional organizations, governments, businesses, and schools. The National Historic Preservation
Act of 1966 resulted in the new field of cultural resource management. In the 1960s, anthropology’s
focus fit with prevailing social interests, which began the turn to practical applications.

Anthropology’s ethnographic method, holism, and systemic perspective make it uniquely valu-
able in applications to social problems.
11.3 Types of Applied Anthropology

Applied anthropologists come from all four subfields: biological, archeological, cultural and lin-
guistic anthropologists. Biological anthropologists work in public health, nutrition, genetic coun-
seling, substance abuse, epidemiology, aging, mental illness, and forensics. Applied archaeolo-
gists locate, study, and preserve prehistoric and historic sites threatened by development (Cul-
tural Resource Management). Cultural anthropologists work with social workers, businesspeople,
advertising professionals, factory workers, medical professionals, school personnel, and eco-
nomic development experts. Linguistic anthropologists frequently work with schools in districts
with various languages.
11.4. What is the Role of the Applied

Anthropologist?
There are three views pertaining to the role of the applied anthropologist. The three views are:
· The Ivory Tower
The “ivory tower” view contends that anthropologists should avoid practical matters and focus
on research, publication, and teaching.
· The Schizoid
The “schizoid” view is that anthropologists should carry out, but not make or criticize, policy.
· The Advocate
The “advocacy” view argues that since anthropologists are experts on human problems and
social change, they should make policy affecting people.
Professional anthropologists work for a wide variety of employers: tribal and ethnic associations,
governments, nongovernmental organizations, etc. During World War II, anthropologists worked
for the U.S. government to study Japanese and German culture. The role of applied anthropolo-
gists in studying the cultures of other societies has led to the argument that, which is the reason
why anthropology has been linked to colonialism.

Unit 11 Conclusion: Applied Anthropology
11.5 Conclusion
Anthropology has changed a great deal since the 19th century. It is no longer a collection of
amateurs interested in the exotic with rather naïve notions about how the world works. It has
grown in its professionalism, in its understanding of how humans live and interact and in its
methodology. The small scale societies that were the focus of anthropological attention for de-
cades remain an important part of study in the contemporary world system. the majority of
anthropologists today study people who are fully integrated into large scale industrial societies.
An important role of anthropology has always been the recording of human diversity and putting
it all together in a holistic fashion. Even within a highly homogenised and integrated world system,
there remains great room for difference for anthropologists to study
References
Adams, Bert N. and Sydie, R. A. 2001: Sociological Theory, Thousand
Oaks, California, Pine Forg Press,
Adams, W.Y. 1998: The Philosophical Roots of Anthropology, Stanford,
CSLI Publications
Bailey F G, 1969, Stratagems and Spoils : A Social Anthropology of Politics.
Basil Blackwell , Oxford
Barth F, 1959, Political Leadership among Swath Pathans, Athlone Press
, London
Cheater A.P. 1986: Social Anthropology: An Alternative Introduction,
Gweru, Mambo Press
Erikese, T.H. 1993: Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthropological
Perspectives, London, Pluto Press
Kvale, S. 1996: Interviews: An introduction to qualitative research
interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Onwuejeogwu, M.A. 1975: The Social Anthropology of Africa: An
Introduction, Ibadan, Heinemann


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WOMEN'S UNIVERISTY IN AFRICA

Addressing gender disparity and fostering equity in University Education

BSc. (Honours) Sociology

Layout and Design: S. Chandomba / C.S. Nhari

Printed by: Benaby Printing and Publishing (Pvt) Ltd

© Women's University in Africa. All rights reserved. No part of this

Funded by: The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)

Editor : Phoebe Kashora

In developing a strategy for increasing opportunities for accessing tertiary educa-

WUA is a private institution, the brainchild of a small group of leading women

I take this opportunity to wish you success in your studies.

Module Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 1

UNITE 1:INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO ANTHROPOLOGY

1.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 3

UNIT 2: CULTURE AND SOCIETY

2.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 13

Women’s University in Africa i

UNIT 3: KINSHIP AND MARRIAGE

3.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 23

4.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 35

ii Women’s University in Africa

UNIT 5: ETHNICITY AND RACE

5.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 49

6.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 59

Women’s University in Africa iii

7.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 67

UNIT 8: PRODUCTION AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

8.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 79

iv Women’s University in Africa

UNIT 9: LAW AND ORDER

9.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 91

UNIT 10: LEADERSHIP

10.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 95

UNIT 11: CONCLUSION: APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

11.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 103

Women’s University in Africa v

vi Women’s University in Africa

Women’s University in Africa 1

2 Women’s University in Africa

1.2 Defining Anthropology

Women’s University in Africa 3

Activity 1.1 "

1.3 The birth of Anthropology

4 Women’s University in Africa

1.3.1 Enlightenment and emergence of Anthropology

Activity 1.2 "

Women’s University in Africa 5

1.4 Anthropological theories

6 Women’s University in Africa

Activity 1.3 "

1.4.3 Str uctur al-functionalism

Structure (borrowing from Durkheim) as a network of relationships comprises three interrelated

Ø Social morphology which refers to the social structure

Ø Social physiology which means how social structure functions

Women’s University in Africa 7

Activity 1.4 "

1.5 Methodology and fieldwork methods in

· You ‘enter into their heads”;

· “See the world the way they do;

· “Adopt their view-points”.

8 Women’s University in Africa

· Observation (non participatory) and participant observation: observation is not hasty

Stages in Ethnographic Research