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Warfare, oracles and iron: a case study of production among the pre-colonial Klowe, in the light of some recent Marxist analyses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

David Brown
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Extract

It is perhaps surprising that the recent resurgence of interest in the application of Marxist theory to the study of the historically non-capitalist societies of the Third World should have focused, at least in part, upon the stateless societies of Africa. To some extent, this interest in some of the least differentiated and least class-stratified of societies can be related to the fundamental problematic of Marxist sociology: the characterization of the stage of advanced communism, which remains so obscure in Marx's own theoretical work. An understanding of the dynamics of ‘primitive’ communism might be seen, therefore, as an essential precursor to this underlying concern. Certainly, the often highly tendentious views of Marxist writers on such issues as the definition of the state and the extent of exploitation in the primitive communist mode can be related to this need. However, the rise of Marxist anthropology has not only been presented as a problem of general evolutionary theory. Other influences have been offered to account for the new concern, the most widely cited being the supposed crisis of functionalism, and the resulting necessity for a complete reorientation of the whole discipline of anthropology. Stateless societies, having long occupied a central place in the field of anthropological enquiry, and yet outwardly presenting such simplicity of form, offer a particular challenge to the radical, and in several recent works have been interpreted in what is claimed to be a novel and distinctive way.

Résumé

Conflits, oracles et fer: une étude de production chez les Klowe pré-coloniaux à la lueur de récentes analyses marxistes

Au cours des dernières années, les travaux visant à présenter des analyses marxistes de sociétés sans état ont attiré un intérêt considérable en anthropologie sociale. Il a été avancé que ces travaux rélèlent un engagement commun aux principes marxistes de matérialisme historique, maiś en réalité, on ne peut pas assumer qu'ils représentent tous de telles vues. Une division majeure existe entre certains écrivains comme Meillassoux, Dupré et Rey dont les analyses sont plus matérialistes que marxistes et qui mettent envaleur leś traits antagonistes des systèmes sans état, et d'autres tels que Godelier, Terray, Hindess et Hirst dont les analyses sont fondées sur des assomptions idéalistes, et qui défendent par dessus tout une determination fonctionaliste du système de parenté. Les représentants typiques de ce dernier groupe sont Hindess et Hirst, dont l'interprétation du ‘mode communiste primit if’ (1975) implique non seulement un faux amalgame de deux thèmes théoriques indépendants (une interprétation interactionnelle de la politique et une conception fonctionnaliste de l'état), mais aussi, une conception douteuse, non historique et dichotomique du sujet humain.

L'exemple du peuple Klowe et des peuples de Libéria de l'Est et de Côte d'lvoire de l'Ouest est utilisé pour explorer les implications de l'interprétation matérialiste et de la critique fonctionnaliste. Il y est défendu que la dernière approche n'arrive pas à percevoir la base politique de differéntiation social dans de telles sociétés, et que réciproquement, une grande partie des relations intérieures et extérieures du peuple Klowe au dix-neuvième siècle peuvent être comprises en termes de modèle de conflit.

La question de l'applicabilité du Marxisme aux études de sociétés sans état demeure par conséquent irrésolue.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 54 , Issue 2 , April 1984 , pp. 29 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1984

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