Warfare and the Dynamics of Political Control
Warfare and the Dynamics of Political Control draws on a wealth of interdisciplinary perspectives to explore how conflict shapes the establishment and maintenance of political institutions, from small-scale societies to expansive empires. The book examines the material and ideological factors that drive warfare, the organization of combatants, the ways leaders use violence to consolidate power, and how groups resist political domination in times of conflict. By posing critical questions about the efficacy of strategies and the varied outcomes of conflict-driven power struggles, this volume offers profound insights into the dynamics of political control throughout history.
Bringing together case studies from diverse regions and time periods, Warfare and the Dynamics of Political Controlilluminates the multifaceted nature of political violence. The volume includes discussions of human sacrifice, slave-taking, ideological signaling, and military strategy and tactics. The case studies reveal how different forms of political violence influence societal structures. From the fortifications of the Māori in New Zealand to the city walls of early historic India, each contribution provides a detailed analysis of how warfare has been used to both to challenge and to establish political hierarchies. Featuring examples from small foraging communities to large empires across various regions and time periods, the book offers a wide-ranging exploration of how different groups have used and resisted political violence.
This essential work contributes to our understanding of the intersections between conflict and political power, making it a vital resource for scholars of anthropology, archaeology, political science, and history.
This is a thought-provoking collection of case studies about the relation of group conflicts to political strategies and levels of complexity. The examples and interpretations provide a lot of grist for the academic mill in its attempt to understand the variety of grinds that warfare produced in the past.’—Brian Hayden, author of The Eyes of the Leopard
'The strength of this volume lies in the tremendous geographic cross-cultural coverage of the multiple means of political domination in state societies.'—Raymond Hames, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Brian R. Billman is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Chapter 2. Warfare and Sociopolitical Change in the Late Prehistoric Period in Central and Southeastern Costa Rica by Amanda Suárez Calderón, Yahaira Núñez Cortés, and Francisco Corrales Ulloa
Chapter 3. The Chiefdom of Hāwea: Whakapapa (Genealogy) and Fortifications in Heretaunga, New Zealand by Mark W. Allen and Ngahiwi Tomoana
Chapter 4. Warfare, Captive-taking, Enslavement, and the Creation of Power by Catherine M. Cameron
Chapter 5. Transformations in Mississippian Political Control, Social Houses, and Warfare by David H. Dye
Chapter 6. War, Power, History: Mississippian Village Formation in the Central Illinois River Valley by Gregory D. Wilson, Tyler Ferree, and Amber VanDerwarker
Chapter 7. Conflict and the Politics of Solidarity: Hierarchy and its Limits in the Late Pre-Columbian Andean Highlands by Elizabeth Arkush
Chapter 8. From City Walls to Country Forts: Changing Landscape Intentions of Political Control from the Early Historic to Medieval Eras in the Indian Subcontinent by Monica L. Smith
Chapter 9. Conveying Inka Ideology of Warfare for Establishing and Maintaining Political Control by Dennis Ogburn
Chapter 10. War and the Polity in Early China by Roderick Campbell
Chapter 11. Leadership, Leveling Mechanisms, Warfare, and Political Power by Richard Chacon
Beyond Germs
Native Depopulation in North America
Edited by Catherine M. Cameron, Paul Kelton, and Alan C. Swedlund
Latin American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence
Edited by Richard J. Chacon and Rubén G. Mendoza
The Global Spanish Empire
Five Hundred Years of Place Making and Pluralism
Edited by Christine Beaule and John G. Douglass
Ancient Mesoamerican Population History
Urbanism, Social Complexity, and Change
Edited by Adrian S.Z. Chase, Arlen F. Chase, and Diane Z. Chase
Landscapes of Movement and Predation
Perspectives from Archaeology, History, and Anthropology
Edited by Brenda J. Bowser and Catherine M. Cameron
