Allen Johnson

The evolution of human societies : from foraging group to agrarian state

1. Introdution Part I. The Family-Level Group: 2. The family level 3. Family-level foragers 4. Families with domestication Part II. The Local Group: 5. The local group 6. The family and the village 7. The village and the clan 8. The corporate group and the big man collectivity Part III. The Regional Polity: 9. The regional polity 10. The simple chiefdom 11. The complex chiefdom 12. The archaic state 13. The peasant economy 14. The evolution of global society.

Individuality and experimentation in traditional agriculture

Most observers agree upon the existence among traditional agriculturalists of a conservative attitude toward innovations and upon this conservatism being the rational result of a well-adapted set of existing techniques in combination with a marginal level of subsistence. This view, however, fails to take account of the readily demonstrated existence of both individual differences in agricultural practice and systematic experimentation within traditional agricultural communities. Such individuality and experimentation are probably pervasive in traditional societies, and must be seen as an essential component of their adaptive processes, as important as the more familiar processes of traditional transmission.

An Anthropological Approach to the Study of the Economic Value of Children in Java and Nepal [and Comments and Reply]

This paper seeks to test the assumption of the microeconomic theory of fertility that the economic value of children is a factor influencing fertility behavior of parents in peasant societies. On the basis of anthropological investigation in one village in Java and one in Nepal, the average amount of time spent by children in different types of activities-both household-maintenance and directly productive-is estimated directly. The support provided by the children to their elderly parents is assessed primarily by examining the pattern of residential arrangements. Anthropological techniques of repeated interviews and direct observation were used to collect the data. Important findings include the following: (1) The work input of children under 15 in both villages is sufficiently substantial to suggest that, at the current rate of reproduction and under the present circumstances, they probably have net positive economic value to their parents, aside from the support they provide toparents during old age. (2) In both villages, girls do more work than boys in almost all age-groups. (3) The work input of children with two or more siblings is higher than that of children with 0-1 sibling. (4) The correlation coefficient between the total work input of children and the balance of income over food expenditure in households is significant. (5) Most elderly persons in both villages are living either with their children or near them. (6) The pattern of actual reproductive behavior in the Javanese and Nepalese villages may be regarded as a mechanism which enable the parents to achieve a relatively large number of surviving children while avoiding the extreme pressure on the household economy that would result from uncontrolled fertility.

Food Taboos, Diet, and Hunting Strategy: The Adaptation to Animals in Amazon Cultural Ecology [and Comments and Reply]

The issue of food prohibitions on such Amazonian game animals as deer is examined from an ecological perspective, in contrast to previous symbolic or structuralist views on this subject. Examined in conjunction with settlement pattern, technology, animal behavior, and habitat productivity, which together determine the food-extraction potential of a population, the avoidance of certain inherently edible species by characterizing them as inebible is seen as selective use of the environment to resolve the relative costs and benefits of alternative procurement options through a strategy of optimum yield. It is shown how the interaction of technoeconomic variables and the differential biotic potential of various species produces a particular set of cultural assumptions about the edibility of such animals and that such selectivity represents a cost-effective strategy of protein acquisition and not a merely metaphysical product.

Machiguenga energy expenditure

This article presents the results of a study of energy expended at typical activities and on average days, by adult women and men of a hunter‐gatherer‐horticulturalist population in south‐eastern Peru. Marked differences between the sexes in patterns of energy use are presented. The men tended to work at higher rates of energy expenditure than did the women. On the average day, representative of all activities in an annual cycle, the women expended only about 8.0 MJ (1925 Cals) whereas the men expended about 13.3 (3200 Cals). Seasonal analysis reveals an even greater contrast during the wet months. Relations between the Machiguenga and their upper Amazonian rain forest environment are considered in accounting for the observed patterns of energy expenditure. Factors such as differences in uses of technology, work settings, and population composition are related to the findings.

Nutritional Criteria in Machiguenga Food Production Decisions: A Linear-Programming Analysis'

Machiguenga Indians of the Peruvian Amazon, like other low populationdensity, technologically “simple” peoples, produce ample food for a nutritious diet. Assuming that this is an intended outcome of their foodproduction strategy, to what extent is it a labor-efficient solution to the problem of producing a “balanced diet”? A linear-programming model of the “diet problem” is constructed with parameters reflecting the Machiguenga economy, and solutions are computed. These are then compared to observed Machiguenga food production; the degree of fit between model and behavior is examined and reasons for discrepancies are discussed.

The Hypoglycemia-Aggression Hypothesis: Debate versus Research [and Comments and Reply]

In a critical evaluation of work by Ralph Bolton on the relationship between hypoglycemia and aggression among the Qolla of Peru, Ted Lewellen has argued that the Qolla are not highly aggressive, that they have been the victims of pseudoscientific stereotyping and prejudice, that they are not especially prone to problems in glucose homeostasis, and that whatever aggression they display can be explained in large part by their consumption of alcohol. This article offers a refutation of Lewellens claims. Following an examination of the evidence on Qolla homicide rates, the author discusses Lewellens explanations for the inconsistent conclusions of different ethnographers concerning levels of aggression in Qolla society. He rejects Lewellens hypotheses and proposes alternatives. A review of the literature on the hypoglycemia-aggression hypothesis shows that, contrary to Lewellens assertion, there is considerable support for a relationship between these two phenomena. The article concludes with a discussion of the problem of stereotyping and of ethical issues related to research with strong policy implications.

The Psychology of Dependence Between Landlord and Sharecropper in Northeastern Brazil

Contrasting beliefs and attitudes held by sharecroppers and their landlord on a fazenda in Northeastern Brazil reveal a tendency to split one another into positively and negatively idealized images. Sharecroppers who ambivalently seek patronage construct good vs. bad landlords/patrons. The landlord, defensive about envy and hostility among sharecroppers, constructs good vs. bad tenants/workers. Theory from the Kleinian school ofpsychoanalysis concerning envy, splitting, and idealization provides a framework for interpreting ethnographic case materials.

The Evolution of Human Societies: From Foraging Group to Agrarian State (an excerpt)

Is it appropriate to claim that population growth is caused by improvements in people’s standards of living? How can we explain the evolution and growth of the complexity of human societies? The book The Evolution of Human Societies: From Foraging Group to Agrarian State seeks to illuminate these and other questions. The authors have an ambitious aim to formulate integral evolutionary theory suitable to account for the diversity of modern societies. Drawing upon archeological and historical evidence with a rich body of ethnographic data, including their own fieldwork, Т. Earle and А. Johnson present 19 case studies that range widely over time and space. The primary engine for sociocultural evolution is population growth and the associated economic and social changes. The authors argue that society development can be understood through the examination of three connected processes-intensification, integration, and stratification. Journal of Economic Sociology has published the introductory chapter of the book. In this part of the book, the authors critically revise anthropological theories that explain society development. They reconstruct the logic and point out the limitations of two dominant research lines: linear evolutionary theories and cultural relativism. Other authors describe the Doomsday equation and suggest their interpretation of drastic population growth within a short period. Combining the social evolutionism approach and economic anthropology, Т. Earle and А. Johnson explicate why sociocultural evolution is rooted in the social and political organization of the economy.

Oedipus ubiquitous: The Family Complex in World Folk Literature.

Part I. Analysis: 1. Introduction 2. A brief history of research on family-complex tales 3. The evidence from world folk literature 4. The theory of the family complex in folk literature 5. Conclusion Part II. The Folktales: 1. Europe and Euro-America 2. Middle East and Africa 3. South and East Asia 4. Oceania 5. Native North America 6. Native South America.