ANTHROPOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT

What is Development?
In the popular meaning of the term, development is a transition towards directed change, towards
modernization, industrialization and capitalization.
However, major development agencies and multilateral organizations often interpret development in terms
of poverty.
Poverty, defined in relation to the absence of basic services and in income terms (less than one dollar a day),
becomes a proxy for the absence of development, and a justification for intervention. Poverty and
development are measured by indicators and targets, some global, others national, which become standard
devices for undertaking development.
But even focusing on poverty does not necessarily imply that poor people are more involved in the
development planning process. Often the poor, cannot represent themselves, they are represented.
It has also been noticed by anthropologists that development is often defined in negative terms, not so
much as the presence of something as the elimination of an unacceptable state, like that of poverty.
Role of Anthropology in Development
Anthropological studies focus on the processes of social transformation, positive and negative,
conventionally associated with development.
Anthropology helps development initiatives realize the context in which their activities are to be introduced.
The cultural insights and the kinds of understandings that anthropology offers enables social development
professional to envision what kinds of impacts particular interventions may have on particular types of
social relations and institutions.
Comparing Development and Anthropology
Development approaches and methods have much common with anthropology, but there are also
substantial differences. What constitutes social development knowledge is determined by the need to meet
policy priorities rather than the pursuit of knowledge. Social development presents itself as a technical
discipline, using social analysis as a precondition for social transformation.
Like anthropological methods, development is people focused and uses qualitative techniques. But unlike
anthropological methods requiring extended fieldwork, social development methodologies are designed to
fit into short timeframes.
Who Undertakes Development?
Development Organizations include multilateral agencies like the World Bank and UN agencies, bilateral
agencies, national and international NGOs. Typical partner organizations include national governments,
national NGOs and the lower tier community based organizations.
Influence of Development Notions
The influence of development extends far beyond the formal institutions charged with implementing
development oriented programs. Cultural attitudes informed by development aspirations are entwined in

popular cultures of developed and developing countries. For e.g. rural communities in Nepal utilize the
category of `developed' (bikas) as a means of classifying people according to perceived class position and
social networks. Wealthy individuals in developed countries provide money for communities perceived as
`poor' via child sponsorship schemes for example
Development and Change
From an anthropological point of view, culture is an asset, even though managing it is difficult since
cultures change and do not have sharp borders.
Examples of development planners' and development workers' ignorance of local culture, have had
devastating repercussions on the local level.
What Development Anthropologists do
Development anthropologists in interpret practices which are difficult for others to access who lack detailed
comparative knowledge of social organization: gender, kinship, property resources.
Anthropological input is often restricted to appraisal and analysis of planned outcome failures. Besides
international development, use of applied anthropology has grown in the West as well.
Anthropology in the US and in South America is often associated with cultural brokerage between
indigenous groups and national governments, and between indigenous groups and private companies, often
those associated with natural resource extraction.
Changing Notion of Development
Development necessitates a kind of social analysis of the situations which the proposed intervention will be
designed to address. From an anthropological view, this essentially requires matching two representations of
reality, that of development practioners and that of local environments.
Research on development and culture during the past years has emphasized a culture-sensitive approach in
development. Emphasis on people undertaking their own development, instead of imposing development
on them, it is suggested that research into local culture is one of the most important features for ensuring
participatory development.
Participation means that development should involve all its stakeholders. Even the World Bank has
recognized the complex local environments in which development policy was supposed to operate and had
failed was due to lack of participation. A modified policy discourse spoke the need to include local people,
civil society, and social networks in planning and implementation
Contentions in Development
If anthropology has conventionally been suspicious of unplanned changes, it has been particularly
distrustful of directed change and of the international development project which has had directed change
as its objective.
The ambivalent relationship between anthropology and development has its origins in the colonial systems
of governance. British anthropology strove to be useful to `practical men' of colonial administration in the
1930's to access public funds. In France, anthropological methods were used to improve colonial

government.
This history accounts for the suspicion with which anthropology is still viewed in many countries which
have a fairly recent history of colonial domination.
A New Role for Anthropologists
The involvement of anthropology in development did not end with the dawning of the post-colonial era.
The inclusion of the discipline in the institutional structures of international development from the late
1970's on has created a number of anthropological positions within development agencies.
Induction of anthropologists in development agencies in the 1980's and 1990's coincided with a new people
oriented discourse in international development and a renewed focus on social exclusion and marginality.
Useful Terms
Contentions controversies or opposing points of view
Conventionally - standardized way of doing something
Natural resource extraction extraction of resources from the natural environment (from the land or the
sea) for productive purposes
Post -Colonial the time period commencing after the colonization period is over, although the influence
of colonizing countries may still remain after they have physically vacated a colony
Ambivalent ambiguous or lacking a clear cut definition
Expectations from an Anthropologist
Commonly it is expected that an anthropologist can assist development programmes by bringing in the
anthropological perspective. Anthropologists are expected to address social rather that technical aspects of
development programs.
It is anticipated that an anthropologist should take care of the `soft' elements of the project. This is a diffuse
expectation which can imply many tasks. The anthropologist can be expected to report on, for example, the
division of labour in an area or why cultivators prefer a special crop. In the latter case, the anthropologist
collaborates with an agronomist on the given project.
An anthropologist is expected to give answers to certain questions which should lead to action: for e.g. to
drill a well, it is necessary to form a water group which will contribute labor and/or take the responsibility
of maintaining the well after it has become operational.
Anthropologists entered the field of development when development organizations acknowledged that
things often did not work out, according to expectations, because of cultural factors. Anthropologists can
help in this regard given their understanding of cultural similarities and differences.
Anthropology's Contribution to Development
Anthropologists have highlighted an appreciation of local knowledge and practices. Anthropologists argue
that indigenous knowledge, practices and social institutions must be considered if local resource
management and development plans are to work.
Interaction between so-called experts in the modern sector and people representing local, specific

knowledge can result in the creation of new knowledge and be a starting point for development activities.
In an anthropological sense, culture is integrated in society and social development and is thus
heterogeneous, dynamic and holistic. Anthropologists have shown that people are not an undifferentiated
mass.
A first step of development workers is to get the whole picture of norms and values, and maybe their ideals,
in a specific area. The second step is to look for the variations in the heterogeneity of what first looks like a
homogeneous mass of people.
Hierarchies are found everywhere. It is of utmost importance to recognize hierarchies in the process of
planned change. The manner in which certain groups are left outside the decision-making process also
deserves attention.
Requirements & Rewards of Anthropological Input
Research into culture and development requires time. It involves considering the interaction and
interchange of different kind of knowledge and learning between development agents, the so-called experts,
and people representing local knowledge - all this also requires much effort and resources.
Much work done by the anthropologist is anticipatory in nature. Anthropological experience helps
anticipate potential, both negative and positive changes. A well done cultural analysis of development
initiatives also helps to anticipate conflicts, which can be addressed before they become serious problems.
Useful Terms
Hierarchies segmented responsibilities accompanied by differences in rewards and prestige.

ROLE OF NGOS IN DEVELOPEMENT

Introduction
The term NGO seems to be deceptively simple. It may overlook the enormous variety and differential capabilities
of different NGOs.In fact, NGOs offer a kaleidoscopic collection of organizations varying in origin, size,
programmes, ideology, role strategy, funding, linkages evaluation, problem etc. NGOs embrace a bewildering
group of organizations varying in terms of innumerable parameters. No standard definition can include all
organizations working at present under the title of NGO, originally voluntarism was a doctrine which held that the
will is dominant factor or it is a principle relying on ones own free will for an action. The definition of NGOs vary
as:
1.

According to Asian Development Bank the term non-governmental organization refers to organization

o
o
2.

Not based in government.

Not created to earn profit.

United Nations defines it NGOs are private organizations that pursue activities to relieve suffering,
promote the interest of poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services or undertake
community development

BACKGROUND OF NGOS IN DEVELOPMENT

Although NGOs have recently emerged into the development limelight but they are not a recent phenomenon.
They were the earliest form of human organizations. Long before the governments, people organized themselves
into group for mutual protection and self help.
First, there were farmers organizations as in Japan in 1868; such organizations played a vital role in agricultural
movement. Traditional self-help associations have also a long history in Africa and Asia.
During the 18th and 17th centuries in particular there has been an explosion in the number of NGOs and an
upsurge for the realistic answers to problem over a king of neglected issues related to ecological degradation,
rights of people and other common property resources appropriate technologies, health, safety, gender and
equity.
The institutional forms to such organizations can be traced back in late 19th and early 20th centuries particularly
in west world where the history of social organizations seems to have been largely influenced by laissez fair
movement based on a more planned way.
NEW TRENDS IN NGOS ACTIVITY (people participation)
New trends emerge in NGOs activities from 1950 to 1960 when it start to work in field of development. Similarly,
the concept of peoples participation does not have a long history. It reflects partly the failure of the trickle down
model of economic development advocated after World War II .In 1980,s NGOs become a major phenomenon in
the field of development. Tvedt analyzed NGOs as an outcome of complicated processes where factors like
international ideological trends, donor policies and agenda interacts with national historical and cultural conditions
in a complex way. On the whole these organizations are commanding growing attention as possible alternative to
government in addressing the needs of vast of population.So,we can summarize NGOs development in three
stages.

Social and cultural in early stage.

Community services and development in intermediate stage.
More recently target oriented activist groups.

NEED FOR NGOS

There is none the less a single answer to question why NGOs are formed? How they are given meaning and how
they operate? One cannot perceive NGOs as entities but we have taken into account the notion of multiple
relation. The entry of NGOs in the field of development process thus represents important response to the need
resulted due to the overburdened government, the hesitant private sector and underutilized people power. These
are appeared to compose of overlapping social networks.
The development experience of 1970s and 1980s have raised more and more critical concerning as growing
awareness about the widening gap between very few rich and the vast majority of poor in developing countries.
This has also given a momentum to search for a more adequate and appropriate strategy for improving
conditions. So, strategies constitute basic elements of the development of a number of NGOs throughout the
world, which get peoples participation. recent, global transformations and the search to a variable new option for
supporting grass-root development presently provide quite significant opportunities for a rapid development of
NGOs in the decade of 1980s in following consideration:
I.

Growing interest among donors and national governments in strengthening the development roles of
institution outside the public sector.

II.

The demonstrated capacity of some non-governmental organizations to reach the poor more effectively
than public agencies.

III.

A sharp decline in public development resources, necessating a search by government for more cost

IV.

affective alternatives to conventional public services and development programs.

Ability to carry out programme on national scale and influence national policies and agencies.

Today, the NGOs address every conceivable issue and they operate virtually in every part of the globe. Though
international NGOs activity has grown steadily, most NGOs operate within a country and frequently they function
properly. According to one estimate some 25000 NGOs now qualify as international NGOs up from less than 400
a century ago.
ROLES OF NGO ACCORDING TO THE EXPECTATION OF PEOPLE
NGOs play a critical role in all areas of development. People and policy makers are agree on one thing that
NGOs play a very important role in development. Role of NGOs vary over the years as the policy of government
changes. NGOs are almost dependent on polices of government.
Socio economic development is a shared responsibility of both i.e. government and NGOs. Role of NGOs are
complementary but vary according to polices of government.
If we closely pursue the voluminous literature on NGOs many roles can be found according to the expectations of
people.
The major development roles ascribed to NGOs are to act as:

Planner and implementer of development programmers,

Agents of information,
Factor of improvement of the poor, and

Mobiliser of local resources and initiative,

Catalyst, enabler and innovator,
Builder of self reliant sustainable society,
Mediator of people and government,
Supporter and partner of government programme in activating delivery system implementing rural
development programmes, etc.,

Facilitator of development education, training, professionalisation, etc.

Basically NGOs role is to prepare people for change. They empower the people to overcome psychological
problem and opposition of oppress. Its role cannot be denied.
OBJECTIVES OF NGOS IN DEVELOPMENT
NGO is one of the alternatives available among various development organizations and one of the inputs among
technical, financial and other resources, major merits of NGOs are emerging from their limited scale of operation;
the sporadic efforts of NGOs can be consolidated and made more effective. Still the primary role of NGO is at the
local level as mobilizes of people and their resources for an indigenous self-sustainable development. And at this
level it can be a pioneer, mediator power broker, catalyst and has many other roles. NGOs and their long
lomerations also are very in playing their role as advocates in policy issues beyond local level-national or even
international level. Proper assessment of expected an actual roles of NGOs enable us to make them an effective
alternative in the development process. However, small and sporadic NGOs are, they are valued in a pluralist
society as an alternative approach to conventional system of attaining human well being and as such NGOs have
a pivotal role to play in any society especially where institutions are alienated and development is dehumanized.
An Ngo is nowadays not expected to deliver directly some benefits to people, but to motivate people, mobilize
resources, initiate leadership, and participate in development programmes for self reliance. An NGO is only an
enabler and as and when a society is made self reliant, role of NGO is shifted to another place where NGO
service is required. But NGO works in relief and delivery of public goods as direct suppliers and majority of the
development NGOs are also involved directly in productive activities. The roles of NGOs an enabler or catalyst

for self reliant society and as supplier or implementer is relevant where bureaucracy is indifferent or inefficient,
programs lack flexibility and cost effectiveness poor are ignorant, elite are ambitious, successes and services are
pre conditions for motivation etc.
Objectives:
A.

Relief and welfare

B.
C.

Community development
Sustainable system

D.

Peoples movement.

TYPES OF NGOS
Types of NGOs can be understand by their level of orientation and level of cooperation .
1.

Types of NGOs by the level of orientation.

It has further types as under,
i.

Charitable orientation.
It often involves a paternalistic effort with little participation by beneficiaries. It includes the
ngo,s which directed the people towards meeting the needs of poor and help them by gaining

ii.

them food, clothing,medicine,provision of housing etc.such ngo,s may also undertake relief
activities during natural or man made herds.
Service orientation.
It includes with ngo,s with activities such as the provision of health, family planning or

iii.

education services. in which the program is designed by the ngo,s and people are expected to
participate in its implementation and in receiving the services.
Participatory orientation.
It is characterized by self-help projects where local people are involved particularly for example

iv.

in the implementation of a project in any village by contributing,cash,tools,land,materials and

labor etc. this type is basically cooperation based and on limited scale.
Empowering orientation.
The aim of these NGOs are to help poor people an d develop a clear understanding of the
social, political and economic factors which are effecting their lives, and aware them how can
they solve their problem by using their resources and purpose to mobilize the people or self
mobilization. In any case there is maximum involvement of the people with NGOs acting as a
facilitators.

2.

Types of NGOs by the level of operation.

It has further types which are as following.
i.

Community based organization(CBOs)

When people start feelings that what are their needs and how can they fulfill them. These
NGO,s arise out of peoples own initiatives. These can includes sports clubs women
organizations neighborhood organizations, religious and educational organizations. Some
supported by NGO,s ,national and international NGO,s and other independent outside help.
Some are devoted to raising the consciousness of urban poor or helping them to understand
their rights in gaining access to needed services while others are involved in providing such

ii.

services.
Citywide organizations.
These NGO,s are organized for some major or personal purpose. For example cambers of
commerce and industry,coaliation of business, educational group. Some exist for other

purposes and become involved in helping the poor as one of many activities, while others are
iii.

created for the specific purpose of helping the poor.

National NGOs.

iv.

It includes organizations such as the Red cross,YMWCAs,YWCAs,professional organizations

etc.Some of these have state branches and assist local NGOs.
International NGOs.
These range from secular agencies such as REDDA BARNA and save the children
organisation,CARE,UNDP,UNICEF. Their activities vary from mainly funding local NGOs
institutions and projects and implementing the projects themselves.

NGOs EMERGENCE IN PAKISTAN

In Sub-continent NGOs culture took shape in the form of GhandiAshram Banaras in 1927.this venture created to
provide jobs for natives in the days of British Raj.Diyal Sigh trust is an example of the time but these efforts could
not become a social norm due to a highly centralized bureaucratic governance. As it is not a new phenomenon
for Sub-continent. it emerged during the colonial period when religious, linguistic and ethic communities felt their
cultural, religious and social identity threatened. Renouncing politics they concentrated on religious, cultural and
social assertion.
To control these associations, the colonial authorities introduced the system of registration under the act of cooperative socities.each society was required to give constitution and by laws and maintain financial accounts.
The major purpose of theses organizations was to open educational, institutions, help the poor and destitute and
improve the condition of women. Such welfare, charitable and educational organizations produced a breed of
social workers who devote their lives to social work. They were sincere and concerned with the welfare of their
community. These community based organizations also created a since of competition among each other which
resulted in positive development. The great contribution of old NGOs was that they preserved cultural, social and
religious values and in resistance to colonial states started movements which lead to positive struggle in the field
of development.
Unfortunately, in Pakistan these NGOs cannot work properly due to political weakness till 1958.so, under these
circumstances in 70s new type of NGOs emerge which were quite different from old ones. The only thing
common in old ones and new NGOs is that both came into being into response of state weaknesses. But in the
absence of well-defined policy for NGOs, there is no moral considerations practiced by the people who have
monopolized this vital sector. On one hand they serve as an employment exchange for kith and kin of the
privileged and on other hand they are a symbol of prestige for the selected few that know the art of preparing
proposals and report written in the bureaucratic lexicon.
NGOS IN PAKISTAN
NGOs claim that there only task is to create social awareness but when people fell that NGOs are not helping
them concretely, they lose interest and merely social awareness is of no use to them. Some of the clever
participants turn this opportunity to their own favors by manipulating different NGOs to get funds in the name of
social work. They know that projects are foreign funded and there is no commitment and sincerity behind it.
Most NGOs have more or less become family business making big profit .if you are a good pretender you can
generate huge funds. As it is discussed above that Ngos receive funds from broad but nobody knows where and
how these funds are utilized. So, people dont trust NGOs foe help as they consider them as fraud.
NGOs WORKING PRESENTLY IN PAKISTAN
In Pakistan NGOs are functioning in different sectors like health, education, women welfare, child welfare. Drug
abuse, women development etc. many international NGOs are working at national level in Pakistan.

HANDS
HEALTH AND NUTRITION DEVELOPMENT SOEITY established in 1979 works on health, provision of proper
nutrition, formal education.
BAHBUD
Established in 1967 is concerned with health, education.
HELP
Established in 1989 is the health, education and literacy project.
PWA
Is the patient welfare association and was established in 1979.
PNCP AND NCD
PAKISTAN NORCATICS CONTROL BORD AND NORCOTICS CONTROL DIVISION is two main agencies
working to control drug abuse. They aimed at policing
crop substitution and law enforcement.

Besides these there are so many NGOs working in different areas. Basically their aim is to work for the welfare of
people.
NGOS IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT
The areas of service which may be entrusted to the NGOs to achieve sustainable development in rural areas are

Agriculture and related land development

Irrigation system
Agricultural extension education
Employment generation _ skill development through training
Health and family welfare_ family planning propaganda, motivation, research and training, rural health
centers, dispensaries etc.

Human
Political
Forms:
chiefdoms, and states

bands,

tribes,

Government plays a large role in our society. To better

understand this aspect of our society, we next look at
its original forms. We humans have had to invent ways of
organizing ourselves into structures larger than that of
our innate band of twenty to two hundred or so persons.
This size of political structure has increasingly grown
from bands to the government of tribes, which are
collections of bands that unite in response to something,
to the government of chiefdoms, which have permanent
leaders who collect and share goods and services from a
central urban center, to states. Its a safe bet that
within a small number of decades, we will have some sort
of global structure. The ten thousand human cultures have
produced just as many political systems. No two of them
have been identical, but some generalizations can be

made. This chapter contains a description of four, common

types of political organization, including bands, tribes,
chiefdoms, and states. The populations of these four
types roughly increases from hundreds, to thousands, and
then tens of thousands of people.
This description of political forms is a summary of
Morton H. Frieds The Evolution of Political Society,
Lawrence Kraders The Formation of the State, and The
Evolution of the Prehistoric State by Jonathan Haas. You
might like to read their entire books to get a more
thorough description of this topic.

Band

For us humans, the band is the naturally occurring group.

For
the
example
of
the
Shoshone,
visithttp://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/american_i
ndians/shoshoniindians.html,for
the
Goshute,
visithttp://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/american_i
ndians/goshuteindians.html,
and
see
others
athttp://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/american_indi
ans/nativeamericansinutah.html (Visit http://plpt.nsn.us
for information about the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribes'
Reservation today.) A band is an association of extended
families, such as that of the Kalapalo, and contains
about twenty to two hundred persons. The band is held
together by strong family ties. The members of the band
know the other individuals well enough to predict their
behavior in most any situation. Band decisions are made
through the consensus of family heads. The band moves
around within a home territory that might be either
strictly or barely defined. The band often has a strong
feeling for its home territory.
A band is not cutoff from the rest of the world but
interacts with its neighbors. Bands from neighboring
regions occasionally meet for ceremonies, to trade goods,
and to search for spouses. A trading circle can extend
for 1,600 km (1,000 miles). As you picture these circles
covering the surface of the planet, you can see that it
takes but a few of them to cover an entire continent.
This means that we humans are in close touch we each
other, and it explains the diffusion of inventions
described by Ralph Linton (see Chapter 9).
An example of a trading area is given by the Yir
Yorant
of
Northern
Australia
(see
Lehmann
and
Myers Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion An Anthropological
Study of the Supernatural). The people on the northern
coast made spears fitted with the barbed spines of ocean
stingrays. Three hundred miles away (five hundred

kilometers), the southern people made axes from locally

available stone. The people of the north made spears but
not axes, while the southern people made axes but not
spears. In the north, twelve spears were traded for one
axe, while in the south it is was the opposite, twelve
axes were traded for one spear. In the middle region, one
axe was traded for one spear. The middle people made
neither axes nor spears, but kept some of each to trade
in both directions.
News, techniques, genes, and diseases travel from one
group of people to the next as they cross a continent in
a short time. For example, as sixteenth-century Spanish
explorers arrived in Florida, they brought watermelon
that did not exist in the new world. Twenty years later,
when other Spanish explorers arrived in New Mexico, which
is two thousand miles (3,200 km) away from Florida,
watermelon was there already. (For panoramic views of
many
Spanish
missions,
visit www.camissions.org/contact.html,
and
to
see
the
original
documents of explorers, visit www.americanjourneys.org.)
The particular news of contact with Europeans was also
known to have been spread by natives at a rate of about
three hundred miles (five hundred kilometers) per month.
When you went to the next trading ceremony, you too would
be anxious to tell others about these strangers. Those of
us humans who are Lakota have a special person, called a
Klmani or news-walker, whose job is to travel between
villages gathering and passing news. Most news concerns
births, deaths, weddings, feasts, and battles and such.
Visit www.sunsinger.org/bhcom/lakota.php for
information
about the Lakota today.
Often two bands have an arrangement where the members
of each of the two bands obtain their spouses from the
other band. (This relationship is described by the
technical term exogamy. In everyday language, this is
what occurs whenever young men and women are placed
within about a fifteen day walk of each other.) Marriage
systems
are
explained
at www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/mar
riage/toc.html. Sometimes more than two bands are
involved in this process. For example, the members from
band A must marry people from band B, band B members must
marry persons from band C, and band C members marry
persons from band A. A newly married couple commonly live
with the husband's family. This means that mom came from
a neighboring band and that your sisters will move away.
This is called patrilocal, reciprocal band exogamy.
Anthropologists try to deduce why it is more common that
wives move instead of husbands by guessing which aspect
of culture might make the closeness of males more
beneficial than the closeness of females. For example, is

a particular culture built upon male hunting and war

groups, or is the culture's most important feature the
gardening and sale of women's crops. Many other living
arrangements occur in the cultures of the world.
Occasionally, groups have a rule that if a husband or
wife dies then he or she is to be replaced by the younger
brother or sister of the deceased. This is described as a
levirate or sororate arrangement. The Bible mentions this
custom.
In Chapter 7 we saw that the availability of food
determined whether any given mammal species hunted
individually or in packs. Food resources also play a role
in determining the size of human groups. Some bands are
composed of a single family group, such as occurs in the
Western Nevada Shoshone, the Paiute, and the Eskimo.
Often individual families forage on their own during the
sparser seasons and then come together during the summer
for ceremonies and such. In the case of big game hunters,
all the groups families stay together because it is
beneficial to have larger numbers of people. In this
case, the families of brothers often stay in adjacent
areas. In the case of people who fish or collect
shellfish, larger numbers are not needed so the families
separate.
Each twenty-five member band has six to eight working
males. Archaeological studies of living areas show that
prehistoric bands contained similar numbers of peoples.
Band population densities amount to less than one person
per square mile (2.5 per square km). If the group gets
much larger, it no longer follows reciprocal exogamy.
These ubiquitous bands are egalitarian. They have no
economic institutions, no markets, and no consumer
classes. The raw materials needed to make the tools of
daily life are readily available to everyone. Each person
makes
clothes,
hammocks,
and
bows
and
such
for
themselves. Some projects, such as canoe and house
building, require the combined efforts of several
persons.
We saw in Chapter 8 that we humans have an innate,
biological predisposition to form social groups. The
exact form of that social group is not genetically preprogrammed. Through time, humans have modified their
social structures to include increasing numbers of
persons through mergers of existing groups of persons.
There have also been changes in the form of societal
"glue" that holds the group together. This glue might be
due to family ties, clan membership, or nationalism.

Tribe

Tribes are more complex arrangements of persons than are

bands. A tribe is a collection of bands. Each band had
already been familiar with the others before the tribe
formed. These bands are not held together by family ties
but are instead held together with more complicated
associations, a "clan" for example. About five hundred
persons make a tribe. A tribe consists of persons who
share language and culture to the extent that they have a
feeling of unity. The tribe is more than a collection of
bands, but it is a fragile structure.
Tribalism often begins as a means to coordinate an
agricultural surplus, such as occurs when farming first
begins to be practiced in an area. Tribal society largely
emerged with the first farmers. Sometimes tribalism
emerges as a means to coordinate scarce resources. For
example, in a region of generally low rainfall, one
valley might receive enough rain to grow crops while a
neighboring valley receives too little. This might cause
the people from five nearby valleys to begin cooperating
to make it through the dryer years. Other tribes have
been created as a defensive response to an older,
neighboring tribe which is beginning to make raids.
Tribal structures always allow military resources greater
than that of the band.
The ideal, hypothetical tribe has a name, a language,
a defended area, and a number of bands. It has a
structure of government surmounted by a leader who
embodies the people's will. This leader is chosen but can
also be unchosen. Dialects and intermarrying areas may
result in the tribe having fuzzy borders. Often the tribe
varies in time, space, and season, making it hard to pin
down because it is constantly changing. A tribe can
become an ethnological mixture of peoples. The tribes of
pre-European New Guinea were unstable shifting alignments
of clans. For this reason, anthropologists have a range
of definitions of tribal systems.
The tribe is a temporary pause between the lessercomplex band and the more-complex chiefdom or state. It
has the potential to become a more complicated form of
government. The tribe is often an ad-hoc response to a
situation. For example, a tribe may form in response to
the development of an adjacent state. There are as many
reasons for tribes as there have been tribes. Tribes
appear today in response to outsiders forcing the bands
of a region to form into a more-formal government.
When a tribe is formed in response to war then the
tribe will exist only as long as that war exists. The
tribes of North America often appeared in response to
invading Europeans. The tribe does not have the means to

conduct an all-out campaign, instead it ambushes with

small hit-and-run raids. Their objectives are cattle,
horses, to drive the enemy out of a favored zone, or to
prevent an enemy from expanding into their home area.
Band-like
exogamy
(choosing
spouses
from
a
neighboring village) cannot hold together a large
society. Tribes are not held together by the dominance of
one band; instead, another integrating force is needed.
If you want to know why a people formed a tribe you need
only ask what integrating force occurred. A politician or
leader doesn't bring the tribe together: an outside force
brings it together. No office with real power exists. The
chief is chosen because of personal charisma.
A tribe may cooperate in holding land and property in
common, settling member's grievances, collaborating in
labor, and in sharing and storing food. The members may
even live together in a "long-house." Like bands, tribal
peoples are egalitarian in that they use simple tools
that anyone can make and they produce only primary goods
to be consumed.

Chiefdom

A chiefdom differs from a tribe in that it has an

economic,
social,
and
religious
centera
citythat
coordinates these activities. Most every chiefdom formed
as the greater agricultural productivity of a group of
farmers enabled such a large surplus of food that greater
population and organization levels occurred, but there
have been a few places where gatherable food was so
abundant that redistributional chiefdoms formed. At the
same time, this abundance blocks any attempt to form a
state and impose restrictions on people.) Chiefdoms are
redistribution centers such that redistribution becomes a
continuous aspect of society rather than occurring only
during ceremonial occasions. It can occur that an
important leader, such as an irrigation manager, becomes
the leader of an emerging chiefdom.
Often chiefdoms arise when people have become
sedentary within an area extending across distinct zones
of resources. This group of people might live both in
high and low elevations, or in high and low rainfall
regions, so that a range in crops is available. Instead
of the people moving from area to area, these sedentary
farmers now move their crops. They might also move wood,
fish, game, nuts, and roots.
The origin of a chiefdom can be a response to an
outside pressure from another chiefdom or from frequent
warfare among tribes. A chiefdom will prevail in a
conflict with a tribe. They "prevail" by driving them

out, by exterminating them, by keeping them as captives,

or by incorporated the enemy as a people into the
chiefdom. Chiefs might send their children to marry
neighboring chiefs in an attempt to spread their
influence, but they will sometimes instead become rivals
to the throne. In some case, an extended family of chiefs
can unite under one king or queen, as in Polynesia.
A chiefdom might develop to further the relationship
between nearby pastoral and farming groups. There must be
a
nearby
group
of
farmers
who
will
be
trading
partners before another
group
can
choose
to
become
specialized herders. This reciprocal exchange requires a
group-organized surplus production that can then be
traded. The goods received as payment are redistributed.
The
accumulation,
trade,
and
redistribution
of
payment require organization, and organization implies
leadership. For example, large scale salmon catches and
coordinated game drives implies leadership, organization,
and a division of labor. The term "game drives" refer to
sites such as those that archaeologists have excavated at
the bottom of cliffs. These sites contain the bones of
many animals and indicate that people had organized into
a cooperative unit to direct the moving animals along a
path that led them over a cliff for easy harvesting.
As
tribes
grow
into
chiefdoms,
specialized
occupations develop. The quality of work of a full-time
craft specialist is greater than that of a "jack of all
trades." When some members of society are able to spend
their entire lifetimes producing a single item, they will
then gain the expertise necessary to create a higher
caliber of finished work. This sudden improvement in the
quality of crafted objects is evident in archaeological
excavations.
The chief organizes labor into public works, such as
the terracing of slopes, the construction of irrigation
works, or the building of palaces or temples. In turn,
these works might increase crop production and enable an
increase in the population level. The public works of a
chiefdom are usually confined to one valley. In the
valleys of Mexico and Mesopotamia, and in the Indus and
Yellow River areas, water control projects built canals
connecting many valleys and lead to the formation of
more-complex state systems of government.
Food and other necessities are being received,
stored, and redistributed, and a portion is being paid to
specialists by the chief. The redistributorthat is, the
person who redistributesoccurs in bands and chiefdoms.
This person was probably given the job because she or he
was the most respected person due to having been the
biggest contributor. When the redistributor's job becomes

full-time then things change such that this person now

gets respect simply by being the redistributor.
A hereditary office of chief might then occur, and
soon after that, the chiefs family and children, and
children's children, form a nobility. Genealogical lists
become longer and more important in inherited chiefdoms.
This is done to help legitimize the position of the
current chief. A band is egalitarianchiefdoms are not.
The office makes the chief who then makes the nobility
that results in social stratification. After a few
generations, the chief's position becomes sanctified by
custom and mythology. Exogamy can be replaced with
endogamy by social rank, where nobles marry other nobles
from the same village.
The religion of a chiefdom begins with its shamanism
and life-cycle rituals and then adds ceremonies of a
wider social purpose. Ancestor worship often increases.
Some groups of people begin to consider their ancestors
to be supernatural beings. A priesthood emerges as
permanent
professionals
begin
to
officiate
over
ceremonies. Chiefs and priests often arise together, and
often both become inherited offices. Sometimes the same
person holds both offices in what is called a theocracy.
The redistributional economy of a chiefdom has
potential for expanding its population or its borders
tribes and bands do not. When the chiefdom brings
together diverse regions, it is beneficial to all its
members. Sometimes a chiefdom later incorporates new
members, bringing benefits to both old and new members in
that the old members have new resources while the new
members gain access to the resources of the old members.
The chiefdom doesn't have the state's monopoly of
force and do not have a police force with a "license to
kill." A feud can occur in a chiefdom but not in the
presence of a state government having a license to kill
because the feud is rapidly quelled. The existence of a
feud signifies a lack of government. For example, in the
nineteenth-century frontier of the Western U.S., feuds
(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield-McCoy_feud)
could develop because there was little government around.
In fact, the moral to the story of many "Western Cowboy"
movies is that people should help each other provide
mutual protection from injustice and the unlawful because
little local law enforcement existed.
There are as many reasons for the origin of a
chiefdom as there are chiefdoms. Sometimes a chief has
privileges, sometimes not. Digging-stick horticulture
groups may have a chief with prestige and privilege. The
privileges include things such as doing no manual labor,
having multiple wives, or farming the best garden spot.
Horticulturists use hoes, plows, terracing, and sometimes

have
a
highly
developed
political
organization.
Agriculturists use advanced irrigation and have a
political organization more advanced than that of
horticulturists in that they may have stratified classes.
A bureaucracy is always needed to manage large scale
irrigation.

Ranked and socially stratified society

Each society has prestigious positions. A ranked society

is one in which the positions of valued status are
somehow limited, causing the number of positions to be
fewer than the number of talented persons. Ranked society
is associated with domestication or with the exploitation
of concentrated food sources, such as a fish-rich stream.
The beginning of the narrowing and the institutionalizing
of the positions of rank can be due to the creation of
irrigation or to the emergence of the redistribution of
surpluses. This can also happen with the initial
development of foreign trade. For example, Mesopotamia
began to trade with the gold regions of what would become
the state of Egypt. The Mesopotamians knew the gold was
there because they had been trading since the time of
bands. The Mesopotamian state encouraged the gold mining
operations to become increased in scale. The occupants of
the gold region organized politically in response to the
presented opportunity. This situation occurred in many
places around the world.
Soon after ranking has occurred, the members of a
society will no longer have equal access to the raw
materials of the items of daily life. This is a
stratified society. Ranking provides a skeleton on which
stratification can grow. A stratified society is usually
a short-lived system because once stratification occurs,
a
state
quickly
follows.
The
maintenance
of
stratification demands sanctions that must be commanded
by a level of power beyond the resources of a chiefdom or
of a system based on kinship.
A kinship system adequately holds together the
members of an egalitarian society but not the members of
a ranked society. The unequal access to the basic means
of livelihood and the exploitation of labor in the ranked
society create new pressures that cause the destruction
of the kinship system. (Does this mean that the extended
family is outweighed by society? By rank?) There is also
a shift in post-marital residence customs.
Some form of unequal access always precedes the
formation of a state. To continue to exist, this unequal
access
requires
powerful
institutions
of
political

control. There can be any of a number of items of unequal

access. People might have unequal access to irrigation
water due to the distance between their plot and the
canals.
Sometimes
a
new
and
exceptionally
useful
resource, like bamboo, ore, or a special stone may become
the main raw-material for making the tools of daily life.
Capital goods will then appear. The impingement of a
distant market system can also lead to the development of
a stratified state that controls the objects of the
market. As occurred, for example, when some Greek and
Roman villages began to trade with the states of the
Middle East around the year 1000 bc (We'll see in Chapter
14 that democracy in Ancient Athens developed in response
to these traders who began to dominate all aspects of
town life.)
Archaeological evidence of stratification includes
differences in burial goods and in house types. Sometimes
the existence of haves and have-nots can be measured
archaeologically
as
differences
in
the
health
of
individualsfor example, in the chemical contents of
their bones. Measured bone strontium levels are inversely
proportional to meat intake and directly proportional to
height. If the members of a population are seen to have
had two levels of bone-strontium, then that society
contained two levels of wealth.
Stratification and its unequal access to basic
resources, develops during a time of simple tools and
appears before metallurgy and complex, full-time craft
specialization emerge. In a band, tools can be made by
anyone because the resources are readily available.
Stratification first occurs as basic resources are being
converted
from
communal
to
private
property.
The
opportunity
for
a
pristine,
stratified
state
to
independently develop ended about 2,000 years ago. After
that time, states and their interactions became too
numerous
for
an
independent
state
to
exist.
An
approximate model of a stratified state has to be
extrapolated from the characteristics of the earliest
known states.(There are also known examples of stratified
but stateless societies.)

State

The pristine state develops with no knowledge of

constitutions, legislatures, bureaucracies, or armies
only lineage heads and temporary chiefs. Most emerging
states were surrounded by, and interacting with, other
emerging states with whom they shared trade and rivalry.
Notice that a professional military doesn't occur prior

to the stratification of a society and that a state can

always overrun a neighboring, less organized chiefdom.
Many states are devoted to military expansion but usually
have trouble effectively exploiting the labor of a
forcibly conquered people. Sometimes a number of small
chiefdoms are united to create a much more powerful
state. As a result, the temporary war leader might become
the permanent leader who then comes to control all
departments of the society instead of just the war
department. When the leader controls a wide range of
activities, the society is less able to remove him or her
even when performing poorly. While the most able person
is selected by consensus to be the leader in a tribe,
this consensus is more difficult to obtain in more
populous state entities. Since the election itself is
dangerous in that it can be a source of social trouble,
some groups avoid this danger by making leadership
hereditary.
An ideological basis can help a leader maintain the
group's consent and obedience and also help that leader
to remain in power. The ideological basis might be a
"mandate from heaven," a state religion, or a belief that
the leader has the status of a god or is a descendant
from the god who founded the state. No known state ever
lacked an ideology that legitimized its power and
sanctioned its use of force, and every known state has
had a physical apparatus for removing those who didn't
cooperate.
Trade to acquire missing resourcesincluding flint
for arrows, raw materials for grinding stones, or wood
for other needsrequires both a trade network and leaders
for the trade network. Since these leaders have an
advantage of easier access to the traded goods, this
leads to a stratified society. And these leaders
sometimes manage to form a state government to perpetuate
their advantages. In contrast, states do not develop in
regions where food is easily obtained, such as in the
jungle, Hawaii, parts of California, and the northwestern
coast of the United States. The political organization of
these regions never became more complex than that of a
chiefdom.
Irrigation systems requires administrators to direct
the number of persons needed to build, clean, and repair
the canals. Administrators are professional managers who
do no farming themselves. A group of a just few hundred
persons wouldn't need this type of administrator.
Separate hierarchies might oversee the defense of the
system against outsiders, the system's time-keepingthat
is, choosing when to plant and when to begin and stop
wateringand the construction of the large-scale temples
that serve to worship the agricultural gods. The need for

maintenance and construction lead to bureaucrats, defense

leads to generals, and agricultural timing and worship
lead to astronomers and priests. With continued growth,
managers of managers are needed. When there are about
three hierarchical levels of managers then the system
might be seen to be complex enough to call it a state,
and this hierarchy becomes the state. A single leader
might occur at the top of the hierarchy, and this single
leader might be elected or the position may become
hereditary. This would be an example of the "integration"
origin of a state that develops to coordinate and
regulate the different parts of a society that is
becoming larger and more complex.
Other political systems develop through what is
termed the "conflict" origin of a state, which describes
many of the states and empires that have occurred in the
last 5,000 years. Before the state forms in such a case,
a portion of the group's members may simply have greater
access to water because their farmlands are closer to the
irrigation canals. This sometimes divides people into
haves and have-nots, resulting in the formation of a
wealthier class. The haves may control the irrigation
apparatus or the trade materials and its network, and in
turn, might form a state government to legitimize and
perpetuate their privileged position. State government is
often begun by, and is composed of, those persons who
control the assets and wealth of a group. In this case
the state is these persons of greater assets and wealth.
That is, the owner and controller of the assets, the
state leader, and the state government, are all one and
the same person or group. Wealth and government are not
often under the separate control of different persons. It
is rarely the case that the state leader has no assets
but tells the asset-holders what to do with their wealth;
the asset holder is usually also the political leader,
and sometimes this leader becomes a tyrant.
A state might form in response to warfare, trade, or
irrigation, but the resulting form of a state will depend
on the region's resources and neighbors. The power of a
leader is determined by the number of persons and the
amount of resources he or she can control. For this
reason, states often perform a census for taxation
purposes and require that a tax be paid in materials or
labor. This leads to problems of record keeping that are
solved by the inventions of arithmetic and writing.
Writing and arithmetic never occurred before states
existed because a band of fifty persons would have little
need for such records.
There is a large range in the populations of states.
In Mexico, the Olmec state contained 20,000 persons while
Teotihuacan contained 200,000 persons. (Archaeologists

estimate population figures from the measured size of

excavated community projects and the calculated number of
years needed to construct them.) In Peru, the first
monuments and the origin of agriculture happened at the
same time. The monuments were so large that they could
have been built in no other way except as a project
involving a large community.

Summary

The band is the natural grouping of humans and is our

original and smallest socio-political unit. Since it
consists of twenty to one-hundred persons comprising a
few extended families held together by their strong
family ties, it differs little from those of other
primates. It is a small, egalitarian community in
constant face-to-face interaction that makes decisions
through the consensus of family heads. Differing levels
of wealth do not occur because everyone has easy and
equal access to all of the items needed for daily life.
Band members collect food and raw materials from the
surrounding area. Each band is independent but not
isolated. Band members are usually required to marry
members from a neighboring band and so have some affinal
relations with adjacent bands.
Tribe, chiefdom, and state societies represent steps
in the organization of increasingly larger numbers of
persons. These organizations occur because of the net
benefits they bring to their members, but it is often the
case that the benefits are not shared equally by each of
its members. A tribe is a collection of bands that form
as a temporary response to an external force and is
sometimes held together by clan membership. A chiefdom
has a city that coordinates religious activities and the
production and redistribution of food. Its greater
economic productivity enables a surplus to accumulate,
populations to grow, and states to form. The state is
identified by stratified society, unequal access to goods
or tools, permanent leaders and priests, and monumental
architecture built by the public. The leaders of the
state are often the persons who have greater access to
those items of wealth, or own them. A state and its
unequal access cannot be held together by family and
kinship ties alone.

Political systems vary from culture to culture, and can take the form of a band, tribe, chiefdom, or
a state. Each of these four political systems vary in their organization in their degree of
centralization, the size of the region that they occupy, their subsistence pattern and economy
type, and how they are lead.
The Ju/'hoansi of South Africa, for example are politically organized as a band. Bands are
uncentralized and are made up of equals. However they do have a leader that settles disputes and
fulfills ceremonial roles. The Ju/'hoansi's leader is known as the "headman." Despite have a
leader, bands still consider its members equals, and because of this, bands are considered to be
egalitarian societies. They have a small population, usually only being made up of less than 100
members. Their main way of subsistence is food-foraging. This economic system requires a band
to be mobile, and they maintain a constant rotation of seasonal territories. (Haviland, 2002,
pp.326-328).
The next political system is a tribe. A tribe is similar to a band in that it is uncentralized has little
to no stratification, however some stratification may be seen. The level of stratification depends
on the leadership system in place and what subsistence pattern the tribe has adopted. Also like a
band, a tribe occupies a specific region, and may make seasonal migrations. This again depends
on the subsistence pattern of the tribe. The main subsistence pattern of tribes varies. Unlike
bands they have evolved domestication practices of plants and animals, and because of this they
may have economic systems that are either horticulture based or pastoral based. In some cases
they may even maintain food-foraging techniques to balance out their diet. One example of a
tribe is the Nuer. (Haviland, 2002, pp.328-331).
The next level of political organization is a chiefdom. It is at this level of organization that
stratification, size, and centralization change. Unlike tribes and bands, chiefdoms are centralized
and have ranked societies with an exhaulted leader, such as the "paramount chief of the Kpelle.
The size of chiefdom varies and can be small like bands and tribes, or they can be larger. Like a
tribe, domestication of plants and animals is an important part of their economy. However,
chiefdoms utilize domestication on a much larger scale as they base their economy on intensive
agricultural practices that create a surplus. (Haviland, 2002, pp.333-335).
Finally there is the political organization known as a state. A state, like a chiefdom, is centralized
and stratified, however the level of stratification is based on classes or castes. States are lead by a
powerful official like a king, as is the case with the Swazi. Population in states is also much larger
and occupies territories that are larger than any of the other political organization. The
population is large enough to support a market economy and intensive agriculture. Because of
their reliance on intensive agriculture, they can create a surplus that is able to support larger
populations. It is also because of this surplus that labor specialization can be achieved and other
areas of interest and skill can be developed. (Haviland, 2002, pp. 335-337).

Gender and Development Issues of Women

Almost every aspect of life is gendered. How we eat, sleep, work, care for children, play, and
communicate are all colored by gender. In developing countries, the challenge of survival brings
gender issues sharply into focus.

12 Platforms for Change

At the 1995 Women's Conference in Beijing, attendees came up with 12 critical platforms where
actions can be taken that will improve the lives of women. Issues are broken down as follows:
Poverty: Women make up a disproportionate share of the world's growing poor. Women now
constitute 70% of the world's 1.2 billion poor. This extra burden stems from an absence of
economic opportunities and autonomy, land ownership and inheritance, education and support
services and minimal participation in decision making.
Education: Although primary enrollment rates are the same among boys and girls, dropout
rates are much higher among girls. Over two-thirds of the world's 1 billion illiterate are women.
Health: Women are the fastest growing group of HIV-infected adults. By the year 2000, 15
million women will be infected by the virus. Each year, at least half a million women die from
complications due to pregnancy, and another 700,000 due to unsafe abortions.
Violence: Violence against women is a global problem. In the United States, a woman is
physically abused every eight seconds and one is raped every six minutes. In India, five women
are burned due to dowry-related incidents every day. According to a survey from Papua, New
Guinea, 67% of all women were found to be victims of domestic violence.
Armed and Other Conflicts: Women often have no decision-making power during global
conflicts. They are the victims of torture, disappearance and systematic rape as a weapon of
war. Women constitute 75% of the world's 23 million refugees.
Economic Participation:At the corporate level, there are only eight women for every 100 men.
Women are strongly discouraged from decision-making positions that involve economics.
Power-Sharing and Decision-Making: More than 100 countries have no women in the
government. Negative stereotypes contribute to the discrimination that women face.
National and International Machineries: Women in developing countries often lack the tools
that are needed for advancement. They need to be educated in how to use technology in order
to become introduced into mainstream society.
Human Rights: Women are granted all basic human rights but often lack the ability to exercise
them fully. Women's rights are still not secured in countries that haven't adopted the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Mass Media: Very few women work in the world's media. This allows men to reinforce the
stereotypes of women that may not necessarily be true.
Environment and Development: Women, since they are left to be responsible for food and
household management, are naturally more concerned about the environment.
The Girl Child: In many countries, girl children are discriminated against from the day they are
born, on into adulthood. They are often treated as inferiors. Girls are less likely to be
encouraged and supported, thus continuing the cycle of dependency.
These platforms offer strategic objectives that can be addressed by governments, international
organizations, communities and individuals to improve the status of women.
Top

Gender Equality, Development & Peace for the 21st

Century
At the international women's conference at UN headquarters, NY in the year 2000, the UN
General Assembly reviewed the progress made over the previous five years (since 1995
Women's Conference in Beijing).
Women's ability to escape poverty is more constrained than men's due to the fact that they bear
the burden of unpaid labor, and have limited market opportunities, as well as less access to
education and training. Women, in the great majority of countries, still face the burden of caring
for children and performing housework, which is often an obstacle to expanding women's
'productive' economic activities and engaging in political action. But focusing exclusively on
women limits the scope of one's understanding. It is therefore important to look at
gender dynamics. The focus has thus changed from WGD (Women in International
Development) to GAD (Gender and Development).
Top

Some Statistics
Women comprise 50% of the world's population, yet they:

are the majority of the 1.3 billion absolute poor

perform 2/3 of all hours worked, but receive only 1/10 of the world's income

own less than 2% of all land

receive less than 5% of all support services

receive only 1% of all agricultural credit

produce more than half of all food produced (Africa 80%, Asia 60%, Latin America 35%)

receive 25 and 40% less pay than men earn for the same work when they are paid for their
labor
Top

Becoming Gender-sensitive

Gender is socially constructed, complex and dynamic.

Recognize men and women as gendered.

Recognize power differences.

Be aware of, but think beyond gender stereotypes.

Be sensitive to gender constraints (behaviors, tasks, mobility etc.).

Consider gender-based knowledge.

Find ways to include women and address women's priorities.

Make women's needs as visible as men's.