Acephaly
Acephalous society (by ancient Greek aképhalos "no head") in the designated policy anthropology the rule of freedom in traditional human societies ; Social decisions are made in a common discourse . According to the definition of the German ethnologist and sociologist Christian Sigrist , a society that is not politically organized by a central authority is called acephalic . Sigrist also speaks of regulated anarchy . The German sociologist Thomas Wagner describes acephalous societies as egalitarian consensus democracy .
Acephalous Societies
Acephalous societies are also egalitarian societies , which means that their members are geared towards political and social equality. At best , there are persons of respect , for example the elderly ( Arnold Gehlen : " Institution in individual cases"). Power is therefore not permanently tied to specific persons or institutions. Depending on the requirements ( e.g. hunting plans , defense), it is awarded by consensus-based democracy to suitable persons who have distinguished themselves through special skills. Such leadership roles can only apply to parts of society and are limited in time. They are not endowed with sanctional rights of rule (for example monopoly of force , jurisdiction or taxes ). Nevertheless, even such temporary leaders have been undifferentiated as " chiefs " since the colonial era .
Akephal are especially hunter-gatherer communities (hunters) that are organized in social hordes (horde society). Their small group size, the close relationships between the members and the low importance of personal possessions and property reduce social differences and prevent the concentration of power on individuals. If several hordes join together, they form a tribe and finally a tribal society . While the ethnologist Morton Fried speaks of a “ ranking society ”, other authors also regard this as an acephalic society.
The local communities of the Australian Aborigines are acephally organized: each person has an equal opportunity to acquire knowledge that can later lead to a recognized " elder ". The elders have a relatively high level of authority because they still have the “last word” in all decisions that affect the whole group. However, they do not have powers or powers of coercion.
Acephalic cultures are also the "coldest" cultures according to Claude Lévi-Strauss , since they (without external influences) strive to preserve their way of life as unchanged as possible.
criticism
Critics note that the categorization of a society as "acephalous" only provides information about the non-existence of statehood, but does not make any statements about the existing forms of political organization. Such a designation only marks an imprecise otherness, without saying anything about the actual political systems of the societies called acephalous (see Eurocentrism ).
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christian Sigrist: Regulated Anarchy: Investigations into the absence and emergence of political rule in segmentary societies in Africa. In: Heinrich Popitz (Ed.): Texts and documents on sociology: studies of the institute for sociology. Walter, Olten u. a. 1967, p. ??.
- ↑ Thomas Wagner: Iroquois and Democracy: A Contribution to the Sociology of Intercultural Communication. Lit, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8258-6845-1 , p. ?? (PhD thesis).
- ^ Dieter Haller : Dtv-Atlas Ethnologie. 2nd, completely revised and corrected edition. dtv, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-423-03259-9 , p. 179.
- ↑ Dieter Steiner : Political Aspects of Tribal Societies. In: Social in the narrower sense. Own website, Zurich 1998, accessed on April 27, 2020 (professor emeritus for human ecology ).