ABSTRACT
The mirror images of the state: bands, tribes and chiefdoms When evolutionary social scientists place the state in front of the mirror of history, they invariably see a reflection composed of bands, tribes and chiefdoms. Put another way, such scientists’ understanding of traditional societies is tightly bound up with what these societies are lacking on their, by no means inevitable, progression towards becoming states. Usually, this involves a list of some or all of the characteristics of the modern Western state: territory, bureaucracy, centralisation, revenue collection, division of labour, exclusive loyalties and the monopolisation of violence (this list should not be taken as exhaustive). Broadly speaking, these scholars operate with the notion of a primitive society based on kinship – sometimes thought of as egalitarian – which through successive stages evolves increasing stratification and complexity, with the end point being the fully formed state. Although parts of this system of thought have been subjected to sustained criticism, as I discussed in previous chapters, it continues to frame accounts of traditional societies in anthropology, archaeology and sociology.
