BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Sabre//Sabre VObject 4.5.7//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Zurich X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/Zurich TZURL:http://tzurl.org/zoneinfo/Europe/Zurich BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:CEST DTSTART:19810329T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:CET DTSTART:19961027T030000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:news1227@zasb.unibas.ch DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20241028T091756 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20191002T161500 SUMMARY:Till Förster: Is a Theory of Anarchy Possible? DESCRIPTION:Acephalous societies (ἀκέφαλος\, “headless”) were a prominent concept of British anthropology. Evans-Pritchard’s work on the Nuer and Fortes’ on the Tallensi introduced the concept to anthropo logy. At the time\, foraging societies were known as having no central po litical organisation\, presumably representing the ‘oldest of human his tory’. But most colonial officers assumed that pastoralists as the Nue r and agriculturalists as the Tallensi would unavoidably have headmen or some other form of centralised social organisation. That big settlements and large areas were “ungoverned” and acephalous challenged colonial thinking. \\r\\nAs a concept\, ‘acephalous’ had been a tremendous su ccess. From anthropology\, it moved into disciplines such as political sc ience and archaeology. It seemed to provide a reliable analytical framewo rk to study systems of checks and balances that kept conflicts and eventu ally violence at bay. That these checks and balances were stable was take n for granted – and their stability was often projected on the past\, assuming that acephalous societies had existed in precolonial times as th ey had been described and analysed in the 20th century: If you know what an acephalous society is\, then you also know what it is to have an aceph alous society under colonial domination. \\r\\nHowever\, the land of the Nuer became one of the most brutal battlefields that the continent has ev er seen. One may deduce from this assessment that such systems of checks and balances owed their stability more to the overarching power of the co lonial state than to their own capacities to settle conflicts. And the Ta llensi may still be a peaceful acephalous society because the Ghanaian st ate is comparatively strong and able to sustain their social organisation from above. So\, what is the concept of acephalous societies good for? A nd what does the fate of acephalous social orders tell us about the longu e durée in Africa and elsewhere? X-ALT-DESC:

Acephalous societies (ἀκέφαλος\, “headless”) wer e a prominent concept of British anthropology. Evans-Pritchard’s work o n the Nuer and Fortes’ on the Tallensi introduced the concept to anthro pology. At the time\, foraging societies were known as having no central political organisation\, presumably representing the ‘oldest of human h istory’. But most colonial officers assumed that pastoralists as the N uer and agriculturalists as the Tallensi would unavoidably have headmen o r some other form of centralised social organisation. That big settlement s and large areas were “ungoverned” and acephalous challenged colonia l thinking.

\n

As a concept\, ‘acephalous’ had been a tremendo us success. From anthropology\, it moved into disciplines such as politic al science and archaeology. It seemed to provide a reliable analytical fr amework to study systems of checks and balances that kept conflicts and e ventually violence at bay. That these checks and balances were stable was taken for granted – and their stability was often projected on the pas t\, assuming that acephalous societies had existed in precolonial times a s they had been described and analysed in the 20th century: If you know what an acephalous society is\, then you also know what it is t o have an acephalous society under colonial domination.

\n

However \, the land of the Nuer became one of the most brutal battlefields that t he continent has ever seen. One may deduce from this assessment that such systems of checks and balances owed their stability more to the overarch ing power of the colonial state than to their own capacities to settle co nflicts. And the Tallensi may still be a peaceful acephalous society beca use the Ghanaian state is comparatively strong and able to sustain their social organisation from above. So\, what is the concept of acephalous so cieties good for? And what does the fate of acephalous social orders tell us about the longue durée in Africa and elsewhere?

DTEND;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20191002T180000 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR