Acephalous Societies Research Articles

Social Control in Tribal Afro-America

The system of law and social control in an acephalous Maroon society in Surinam is described and the effectiveness of the system is evaluated. The main factors contributing to Matawai social control are identified and further use for such a framework of analysis is suggested. The position is taken that self-control is generally-speaking a more efficient means of social control than is external control.

Slavery and the Slave Trade in Dār Fūr

The institutions of slavery, slave raiding and the slave trade were fundamental in the rise and expansion of the Keira Sultanate of Dār Fūr. The development of a long-distance trade in slaves may be due to immigrants from the Nile, who probably provided the impetus to state formation. This process may be remembered in the ‘Wise Stranger’ traditions current in the area. The slave raid or ghazwa, penetrating into the Baḥr al-Ghazāl and what is now the Central African Republic, marked the triumph of Sudanic state organization over the acephalous societies to the south.The slaves, who were carefully classified, were not only exported to Egypt and North Africa, but also served the sultans and the title-holding elite as soldiers, labourers and bureaucrats. In the latter role, the slaves began to encroach on the power of traditional ruling groups within the state; the conflict between the slave bureaucrats and the traditional ruling elite lasted until the end of the first Keira Sultanate in 1874.

Authority, Efficiency, and Role Stress: Problems in the Development of East African Bureaucracies

East African colonial officers were confronted with several alternatives in developing local political bureaucracies which could exercise external authority over their clientele and operate efficiently by bureaucratic standards. In tribal systems with articulated political roles (e.g., Uganda) attempts to adapt the traditional roles to modern usage frequently resulted in decreased bureaucratic efficiency. In acephalous societies similar policies led to similar results (Tanganyika), but attempts to graft on efficient roles resulted in decreased authority, as in Kenya. The maximization of one goal seemed to minimize the achievement of the other. Eventually role stress caused by increasing bureaucratic complexity endangered internal efficiency, and external authority was vitiated by the growth of modern competing political structures. It is suggested that the apparent incompatibility between the requisites of internal efficiency and external authority was due to overemphasis on one goal or the other. William G. Fleming is assistant professor of political science at the University of North Carolina.