Anthropological Egalitarianism

Paper Summary:

This paper uses the Pygmies of Central Africa, the Khoisan Peoples of Southwestern Africa, the Aborigines of Australia, and various peoples, such as the Tiwi who live on islands in the South Seas, as examples of hunter/gatherer and pastoralist societies in which to study anthropological egalitarianism as opposed to egalitarianism in
modern society. The author points out that the proper or improper performance of duties influences the social position of the person and his or her family. The paper relates that there are great differences in the relative egalitarianism of hunter/gatherer and pastoralist societies, which do not ultimately depend on the different ways of earning a living nor on the different social organizations of the two kinds of people; if the acquisition of wealth is limited to certain kinds of occupations or to the acquisition of certain objects, then only those who can perform such tasks or obtain such objects can be considered successful.

From the Paper:

"On the whole, hunter/gatherer societies are distinguished by the fact that each unit of that society performs essentially the same function as any other unit. As stated above, the typical unit of that society is the family consisting of men, women, and children. Because of the quality across families, there is really no one family that is ever of higher or lower rank than any other. An individual's usefulness to both his and her family, and to his or her society, is based directly on that individual's ability to perform the functions necessary to survival. So long as one performs these functions adequately, one can be assured of enjoying good relations with one's peers i.e. with everyone else. But to neglect one's duties, is to upset the social order and to invite criticism or even ostracism."

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