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Factional Competition and Political Development in the New World

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Factional Competition and Political Development in the New World
Authors and Contributors      Edited by Elizabeth M. Brumfiel
Edited by John W. Fox
SeriesNew Directions in Archaeology
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:248
Dimensions(mm): Height 246,Width 189
Category/GenreWorld history - c 500 to C 1500
Archaeology
ISBN/Barcode 9780521545846
ClassificationsDewey:970.01
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations 17 Tables, unspecified; 32 Maps; 5 Halftones, unspecified; 19 Line drawings, unspecified

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 4 December 2003
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

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.

Reviews

"I am pleased to add the chapters in this volume to the growing list of sources contributing to the development and refinement of an explicitly behavioral approach to the explanation of sociocultural change....the book successfully addresses many questions from an interesting point of view." Richard Blanton, Ethno History