Untitled Document

NOTES

War in the Tribal Zone - R. Brian Ferguson & Neil L. Whitehead - Ch. 1

INTRODUCTION
paradigm shift (p.2)

ahistorical - historical
pristine (ethnographic present) - system
synchronic - diachronic
static - dynamic (process)
equilibrium - disequilibrium
function - dysfunction
salvage - contact/change (center-periphery, frontier)
ethnography

WORLD SYSTEMS AND EXPANDING STATES

four phases (p. 7)

1. indirect contact
2. direct contact
3. encapsulation
4. incorporation (assimilation)

THE TRIBAL ZONE

state - centralized, institutionalized, authoritative system of political rule (p. 6)

tribe - a bounded network of communities united by social and political ties and generally sharing the same language, ideology, and material culture. The communities in a tribe are economically autonomous and there is no centralized political hierarchy (pp. 28-29)

tribal zone - the area continuously affected by the proximity of a state (p.3)

tribalization - genesis of new tribes (p.3)

four factors (pp. 8-11)

1. introduced disease [germ or biological warfare - Bodley, Crosby] 2. ecological change
3. technological and economic change
4. militarization
[5. tribal identity (us/them) and boundaries]

Tribe may not be a normal stage of cultural evolution, between band and chiefdom, but a result of state expansion and militarization (p.12-13)

results of warfare (p. 14 )

STRUCTURE, AGENCY, AND HISTORY

MILITARIZATION IN THE TRIBAL ZONE

three basic options to cope with state expansion

1. resistance and rebellion - war by indigenous people against the state (p. 18) (Carib, Hopi, Jivaro, Kuna - p. 19)

2. cooperation - internecine war

ethnic soldiering = war by indigenous peoples carried out under the control or influence of state agents (p. 18)

a. control flow of trade goods
b. capture labor (e.g., Caribs become raiders for slaves)
(p. 23)

the expansion of European colonial states coincided with its militarization (new killing technology) (p. 21)

3. flight [separate peace, e.g. Semai ]

CONCLUSIONS

1. most information about pristine "primitive warfare" is really about postcontact influences from state expansion - European colonialism, even indirect influences (e.g., Yanomami!)(p. 26)

2. state expansion introduced warfare or intensified warfare and transformed its character, rather than suppressing previous endemic warfare or pacification (e.g., Ferguson on Yanomami!!!!)

3. The tribal zone and tribalization (ethnogenesis) result of state expansion into non-state areas

4. "For the anthropology of war, these findings suggest the need to reconsider current assumptions and theories about the causes and practice of war in nonstate societies, which have been formed without reference to the contact-related variables identified here." (p.27)

In other words - Hobbesian savagery is a fallacy (p. 28)

"With astonishing frequency, in popular media and even scholarly tracts, one finds collective violence explained as an outgrowth of "tribal loyalties." With greater or lesser biologism, it is asserted that humans are fundamentally tribalistic in orientation, and that relations between tribes are inherently hostile. In other words, people tend to identify blindly with their own social group or "tribe," and to react with virtually instinctive animosity toward those belonging to other groups." (p. 28)