Pathways to Power
New Perspectives on the Emergence of Social Inequality
Editors: Price, T. Douglas, Feinman, Gary M. (Eds.)
Free Preview- -Follow-up to the very popular Foundations in Social Inequality, with brand new research and case studies -Authors are all recognized experts in archaeology, and particularly in the development of social hierarchies -Includes case studies on the development of social inequalities throughout different time periods and geographic regions, including the present day
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- About this Textbook
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There are few questions more central to understanding the prehistory of our species than those regarding the institutionalization of social inequality. Social inequality is manifested in unequal access to goods, information, decision-making, and power. This structure is essential to higher orders of social organization and basic to the operation of more complex societies. An understanding of the transformation from relatively egalitarian societies to a hierarchical organization and socioeconomic stratification is fundamental to our knowledge about the human condition. In a follow-up to their 1995 book Foundations of Social Inequality, the Editors of this volume have compiled a new and comprehensive group of studies concerning these central questions. When and where does hierarchy appear in human society, and how does it operate? With numerous case studies from the Old and New World, spanning foraging societies to agricultural groups, and complex states, Pathways to Power provides key historical insights into current social and cultural questions.
- About the authors
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T. Douglas Price is the Director of the Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Gary M. Feinman is Curator, Mesoamerican and Central American Anthropology, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL.
- Reviews
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"While most archaeologists are interested in origins, only a few wish to investigate the "big picture". Most authors are well known from their publications and conference presentations, and their contributions are thoughtful, but I preferred Pathways."
Thomas N. Huffman
South African Archaeological Bulletin
- Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Social Inequality and the Evolution of Human Social Organization
Pages 1-14
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On the Evolution of the Human Capacity for Inequality and/or Egalitarianism
Pages 15-44
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Degrees and Kinds of Inequality
Pages 45-76
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Gimme That Old Time Religion: Rethinking the Role of Religion in the Emergence of Social Inequality
Pages 77-94
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Who Benefits from Complexity? A View from Futuna
Pages 95-145
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
- Download Preface 1 PDF (49.4 KB)
- Download Sample pages 1 PDF (201.9 KB)
- Download Table of contents PDF (31.6 KB)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
-
- Book Title
- Pathways to Power
- Book Subtitle
- New Perspectives on the Emergence of Social Inequality
- Editors
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- T. Douglas Price
- Gary M. Feinman
- Series Title
- Fundamental Issues in Archaeology
- Copyright
- 2010
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag New York
- Copyright Holder
- Springer-Verlag New York
- eBook ISBN
- 978-1-4419-6300-0
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-1-4419-6300-0
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-1-4419-6299-7
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-1-4614-3303-3
- Series ISSN
- 1567-8040
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- IX, 298
- Number of Illustrations
- 46 b/w illustrations
- Topics