Social Stratification

Guns, Germs, and Steel: Part 3

Lethal Gift of LivestockOne result of having domesticated animals

is the passing of disease causing microbes from animals to humansHuman disease Animal with closest related

pathogen

Measles Cattle (rinderpest)

Tuberculosis Cattle

Smallpox Cattle (cowpox) or other livestock with related pox viruses

Flu Pigs and ducks

Pertussis Pigs, dogs

Falciparum malaria Birds (chickens and ducks?)

Lethal Gift of LivestockBut there are other criteria for epidemic diseases:

Large, dense populations – rapid spread of diseaseSmall populations have diseases, too, and they have been

around longer (usually infect close evolutionary relatives or survive in the soil)

Human fertilizer can spread disease as wellOur symptoms of disease are generally ways in

which microbes modify our behavior such that we spread the microbe (e.g., runny nose, coughing, sneezing, diarrhea, etc.)

But why do we care about disease causing microbes? Why are “germs” important in the long run?Most Native American populations collapsed between

1492 and the 1600s due to disease – 20 million down to 1 million

Why didn’t Native Americans have diseases of their own to send back across the oceans?

Independent Origins of Writing

Sumer3,000 BCE

Mesoamerica600 BCE

China? 1,300 BCE

Egypt?3,000 BCE

Blueprints and Borrowed LettersWhy did writing arise in and spread to some

societies, but not to many others?Limited capabilities – not very clear, not very

robustLimited uses – for keeping records

“facilitate the enslavement of other human beings”?Limited users of early writing systems – not many

learned itOnly arose or was adapted by complex societies

with centralized political institutionsServed the needs of these institutions (records and

propaganda)Users were court bureaucrats

Necessity’s MotherIs “necessity the mother of invention”?

Atom bombOr is invention usually the result of

tinkerers who build upon the work of people who developed similar ideas before them?Airplane, automobile, electric light bulb,

phonograph, transistorAre there genius inventors?

Capable people with capable predecessorsInvent when society can use the invention

The 4 Factors of Invention Acceptance1. Relative economic advantage compared

with existing technology• Wheeled vehicles in Mesoamerica

2. Social value and prestige (can override economic benefit)

• Designer jeans, Japanese kanji

3. Compatibility with vested interests• QWERTY keyboard vs. DVORAK

4. Ease with which advantages can be observed

• British adoption of cannons in 1340

Receptivity to InventionsWhat about receptivity to inventions? Does

this matter?4 ideological factors:

Risk-taking behavior – more widespread in some societies than others

Scientific outlook is a feature of post-Renaissance Europe

Tolerance of diverse views and of hereticsReligious regulation of technological innovation

Are these accurate? Are they proximate causes?

Necessity’s MotherThe ultimate cause – geography – explains

this as well:Geographic location regulates diffusion of

technologyAnd population size (and density) help

increase the odds of inventions occurring (through specialization) and spreading

Continent 1990 Population

Area (square miles)

Eurasia and North Africa 4,120,000,000 24,200,000

(Eurasia) (4,000,000,000) (21,500,000)

(North Africa) (120,000,000) (2,700,000)

North America and South America

736,000,000 16,400,000

Sub-Saharan Africa 535,000,000 9,100,000

Australia 18,000,000 3,000,000

Types of SocietiesBand Tribe Chiefdom State

Membership

Number of people

Dozens Hundreds Thousands Over 50,000

Settlement pattern

Nomadic Fixed: 1 village Fixed: 1 or more villages

Fixed: many villages

Basis of relationships

Kin Kin-based clans Class and residence

Class and residence

Ethnicities and languages

1 1 1 1 or more

Government

Decision making, leadership

“egalitarian” “egalitarian” or big-man

Centralized, hereditary

Centralized

Bureaucracy None None None, or 1 or 2 levels

Many levels

Monopoly of force and information

No No Yes Yes

Conflict resolution

Informal Informal Centralized Laws, judges

Hierarchy of settlement

No No No-paramount village

capital

Keep in mind this is more of a continuum.

From Egalitarianism to Kleptocracy“…chiefdoms introduced the dilemma fundamental to

all centrally governed, nonegalitarian societies. At best, they do good by providing expensive services impossible to contract for on an individual basis. At worst, they function unabashedly as kleptocracies, transferring net wealth from commoners to upper classes.” (p. 276)Is this true?

Four solutions for kleptocracies:Disarm the populace and arm the elite (Japanese samurai)Make the masses happy by redistributing much of the

tribute received, in popular ways (middle class Americans)Use the monopoly of force to promote happiness, by

maintaining public order and curbing violence (UK)Construct an ideology or religion justifying kleptocracy

(Saudi Arabia, medieval Europe)

From Egalitarianism to Kleptocracy“In the latter case it is often government

that organizes the conquest, and religion that justifies it.” (p. 266)Is one function of religion the justification of

kleptocracies?Which famous sociologist claimed this?

What else does religion contribute to societies?Shared ideology solves the problem of killing

each otherMotive for sacrificing one’s life for another

From Egalitarianism to KleptocracyWhich factors give rise to states?

Population densityNeed for conflict resolution

Remember the “chicken and the egg”?“Posing the question in that either-or form

misses the point. Intensified food production and societal complexity stimulate each other, by autocatalysis. That is, population growth leads to societal complexity, by mechanisms that we shall discuss, while societal complexity in turn leads to intensified food production and thereby to population growth.” (p. 285)

From Egalitarianism to KleptocracyAxiom: smaller groups (i.e., tribes, chiefdoms)

give rise to larger states as long as they are able to overcome the problems associated with sizeIs this generally true?

Why did the Maori destroy the Moriori rather than take them as slaves?Low population density, losers move awayModerate population density, slaves cost too

much in foodHigh population density, slaves make sense

(either as subjects paying tribute or actual slaves)

Types of SocietiesBand Tribe Chiefdom State

Religion

Justifies kleptocracy?

No No Yes Yes -> no

Economy

Food production No no -> yes yes -> intensive Intensive

Division of labor No No no -> yes Yes

Exchanges Reciprocal Reciprocal Redistributive (tribute)

Redistributive (taxes)

Control of land Band Clan Chief Various

Society

Stratified No No Yes, by kin Yes, not by kin

Slavery No No Small-scale Large-scale

Luxury goods for elite

No No Yes Yes

Public architecture

No No no -> yes Yes

Indigenous literacy

No No No Often

GGS - RecapAt this point we have covered the basic

argument of GGS:Differences in geography, climate, and natural

resources (i.e., domesticable plants and animals) lead to different rates of societal developmentThese are the “ultimate” causes of inequality

Differences in ultimate causes lead to differences in proximate causes: guns, germs, steel, writing, societal complexity, technology, etc.These are the “proximate” causes of inequality

The rest of the book uses the ultimate factors to explain differences in the proximate factors

Let’s look at the diagram again…

Development DiagramUltimate Factors

Proximate Factors

East/West Axis

Ease of species

spreading

Many suitable

wild species

Many domesticated plant and animal

species

Food surpluses, food storage

Large, dense, sedentary, stratified

societies

technology

Epidemic disease

Political organizat

ion, writing

Ocean-going ships

Guns, steel

swordshorses