Chiefdoms
Power, Economy, and Ideology

The study of chiefdoms has moved from a preoccupation with their formal characteristics to a concern with their dynamics as political institutions. The contributors are interested in how ruling elites retain power through control over production and exchange, and then legitimize that control through an elaborated ideology. The ten case studies look at particular chiefdoms, originating in specific historical conditions. Despite obvious differences between the chiefdoms, certain common underlying processes are revealed. The collection recognizes how complex and interdependent are the sources of power in society, as well as the forces of instability that constantly threaten to tear it apart.

Reviews & endorsements

"The papers, which grew out of a 1988 Advanced Seminar at the School of American Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico, are all of a high quality and are all thought provoking. The theoretical diversity represented by the 10 authors, the empirical summaries of a worldwide sample of chiefly cases, and the volume's uncanny cohesiveness make this book an essential addition to the libraries of those social scientists concerned with chiefdoms or, more broadly, with the historical relationships between polity, economy, and culture....deserves high praise." American Antiquity

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Product details

• Date Published: April 1993
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9780521448963
• length: 356 pages

• dimensions: 232 x 154 x 22 mm
• weight: 0.52kg
• contains: 21 b/w illus. 10 tables
• availability: Available