Factional Competition and Political Development in the New World (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780521545846)

Factionalism is an important force of social transformation, and this volume examines how factional competition in the kinship and political structures in ancient New World societies led to the development of chiefdoms, states and empires. The case studies, from a range of New World societies, represent all levels of non-egalitarian societies and a wide variety of ecological settings in the New World. They document the effects of factionalism on the structure of particular polities: for example, how it might have led to the growth of social inequality, or to changing patterns of chiefly authority, or to state formation and expansion, or institutional specialisation. The work is a creative and substantial contribution to our understanding of the political dynamics in early state society, and will interest archaeologists, anthropologists, political scientists and historians.

Author: Elizabeth M. Brumfiel
ISBN-10: 0521545846
ISBN-13: 9780521545846
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 12/04/2003
Pages: 248
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.01lbs
Size: 9.86h x 7.32w x 0.53d