Tribal Societies and Non-Coercive Power - Essay Example

Tribal Societies and Non-coercive power Institution Name Tribal Societies and Non-coercive power Tribal societies are defined as those societies that organized mostly on the basis of social and particularly on basis of group descent. It is evident that Clastres pays attention on the communist invariant that is present in the tribal society. The refusal of inequality of power means violence or coercion. Tribal societies are mostly feature non-coercive power that ensures that they are sustainable. Nuer lineages and tribes are mostly influenced by the structural relativity principal. Tribes are defined as not only the largest group but also the function that rallies the society. Tribal identity is conceived as problematic category. This is because it is not fixed in nature but rather its alliances are situational and complex. Furthermore, tribal societies are perceived as not Rousseauist in nature but rather practices systematic violence to prevent the rise of states. Therefore, it is only through waging war with other existing tribes that they can maintain the autonomy and dispersion of each existing group. Similarly, tribal chiefs are not deemed as powerful but rather weak in order to ensure their dependent on the community. In the archaeology of violence, Clastres defines primitive society as a community that is logically antagonistic to existing moves in dissolving its unity thus affecting the division of those who obey and command. The societies not only exist as a totality but are also homogenous in nature. They are described as autonomous, complete, and ceaselessly conscious to protect its autonomy. As such, these societies can be said to exist as a totality. They groups are homogeneous which enables them to stop social divisions, dismiss inequality and forbid separation within the society. Tribal societies maintain conscious about their differences from other groups. They maintain a certain distance between them, each in its respective territory. Community members rebel against any extra-communal logic of generalized exchange since such logics would lead the autonomous groups to identify with others out of their group. For example the conversation Evans-Pritchard has with the man Cuol, in which Evans-Pritchard tries with great difficulty to learn the man's name It is possible, in fact likely, that the man's hesitance to divulge personal information is a form of self-preservation. According to Clastres the Guayaki had been reasonably confortable in their forest before they we engulfed by civilization. Their satisfaction did not come from them living in the forest but from an equal life with their fellow tribe members and free movement in their environment from where they acquired a satisfying living. According to Clastres, their happiness came less from their power over nature than from a lack of it, an interpretation all the more fascinating at a time when civilization's "fearful powers and knowledge" seem to be growing uncontrollably, ominously. The Indian chieftains for instance had no power, and indeed were elevated only on condition of disempowerment. This political figure would in the civilized society enforced coercive power. However, according to Clastres, the chief played the roles of promoting peace and reconciliation within the tribe. The Chief acted with faultless generosity: and owed what Clastres often referred to as an “infinite debt” to the society. The Chief would command only by means of what a philosopher would later call the “unforced force” of speech; being that great oratorical skills was the major qualification for the office. Primitive society is a single totality in that the principle of its unity is not exterior to it: it does not allow any configuration of one to detach itself from the social body in order to represent it, in order to embody it as unity” Evans Pritchard believed that the characteristics possessed by the Nuer enabled them to maintain their culture. He notes:  “The qualities which have been mentioned, courage, generosity, patience, pride, loyalty, stubbornness, and independence, are the virtues the Nuer themselves extol, and these values can be shown to be very appropriate to their simple mode of life and the simple set of social relations it engenders”. Culturally, ethnic group members share certain values, beliefs, customs and habits due to their normal background.   Therefore, they define themselves as not only different but also special due to their cultures. Ethnicity is defined as identification with a particular group and exclusion from other due to their affiliation. Ethnic behaviors and feelings varied with countries and groups, and over a period. A race on the other hand is a biological subspecies or is a variety of a given species consisting of a less or more distinct population with various anatomical traits that differentiates it from other races. However, the biologists’ definition fails to fit the reality of human beings genetic variation that is present in the modern day. Human beings are homogenous species. Factually, in the present day, all human beings are genetically identical; therefore, most of the variation is only present in the difference between females and males in addition to human beings unique personal traits. Therefore, just like ethnicity in general, race remains a cultural construct and not a biological one. The mentioned is because it remains impossible to define races in a biological perspective, and it is only possible to do so using the cultural construct. It is also evident that the belief that race is present is common among the public and less spread among the scientists. For example, most Americans belief that the American population include biological races whereby various labels are applied. The labels include African American, white, Asian American, black and native America among other labels. There were various forms of exploitation in the tribal societies some of which are discussed as follows. Forest land and its resources provide the best means of livelihood for the tribal societies as member engaged in agriculture, food gathering and hunting. The societies heavily depended on the forest products. The dependence on the forest means that the natural resource was heavily exploited by the tribal members as their livelihood significantly depended on it. Majority of the tribal societies were significantly affected by poverty. They pursued simple occupations as they utilized simple technology. Most of their occupations were primary occupations such as hunting, gathering and agriculture. They exploited primitive technology in carrying out their occupations. In these tribal societies there was no surplus production and as such profit making was nonexistent. For instance the Nuer are raised in an environment where hardship and hunger are frequent visitors, and they express contempt for both of these things (Evans-Pritchard 1940:135). Many tribal societies are characterized by many health problems. The members of the community suffer from chronic infections and diseases which are life threatening. They are also exposed to deficiency diseases. The Burma tribe for instance suffered from goiter as a result of lack of iodine. Other diseases like leprosy and tuberculosis are also common among members. Such societies are characterized by high infant mortality rates. Malnutrition generally affect the health of children in such tribes as their immune system is significantly lowered rendering them unable to resist infection. Women have to walk longer in search of food due to exploitation of the natural resource base such as forest produce which they largely depend on. The tribal societies lacked proper education. They largely demonstrated informal education where by the young learnt from their elders. The main medium of education in the tribal education is through socialization which has the family and kin as the immediate providers of education. Superstitions and myths largely controlled the informal education which was also characterized by poetry, songs, riddles, tales among others. The tribal societies exhibit strong inherent bond within its members and are very cautious of the presence of a nonmember. There were various forms of cultural exploitation directed particularly to women. Women are extremely exploited in the tribal societies. They are considered to play key roles and are burdened by various responsibilities compared to men. In simple terms, women were subject to men. For instance in the descriptions of the life of Nuer, women’s roles and other related issues were totally disregarded. All the texts cited by Evans involved his conversation with men and not women. It is also clear in the book to do with marriage that women had a surbodinate role in the Nuer society. Due to contact with other cultures, the tribal culture is undergoing a revolutionary change. Due to influence of Christian missionaries the problem of bilingualism has developed which led to indifference towards tribal language. The tribal people are imitating western culture in different aspects of their social life and leaving their own culture. It has led to degeneration of tribal life and tribal arts such as dance, music and different types of craft. These forms of exploitation could only be recognized by outsiders particularly from the civilized societies. The indigenous members of the tribal societies could have not considered these as exploitation, most probably according to them it was the norm. References Georg Pfeffer, ‎Deepak Kumar Behera, Contemporary Society: Concept of tribal society, 2002. Kahn, V. (2014). The Future of Illusion: Political Theology and Early Modern Texts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kelly, R. C. (1985). The Nuer conquest: The structure and development of an expansionist system. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Max Gluckman, Politics, Laws and Rituals in Tribal societies, 5th Ed, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 2005. Lukács, G., & Kahn, A. D. (2005). Writer and critic: And other essays. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. Read More