Political Anthropology

Japanese: 政治人類学 - せいじじんるいがく

Political anthropology focuses primarily on tribal societies and studies the acquisition and exercise of political power and its effects.

[Motoyoshi Omori]

History and subject

With the advance of Western powers into Asia and Africa, non-Western governing institutions and their functions first became the focus of interest. Starting with Morgan's analysis of the Iroquois Confederacy and Fraser's analysis of the regicide myth, interest was drawn to divine kings, matriarchy, religious authority, status, and caste. The development of political anthropology owes a great deal to British anthropologists who compiled case studies in Africa. The actual state of the organization and activities of kingdoms and decentralized governing institutions under colonial rule was presented individually, opening the way for comparison and examination. However, in the 1960s, new developments were seen. The independence of former colonies gave rise to many political anxieties and upheavals, such as the introduction of Western political systems and friction, clashes between old and new ruling classes, changes in patronage-subordinate relationships, and confusion during local elections. Furthermore, the pursuit of the relationship between ethnic minorities and urban issues in developed countries has been pioneered as a subject of political anthropology.

[Motoyoshi Omori]

New methods in political anthropology

With the addition of the results of empirical research in India and Latin America, new methods and concepts based on behavioral analysis have been developed. One approach is to investigate the process of political action by focusing on the "field," which refers to all the people involved in a political event, and the "arena," which refers to the social and cultural space in which they act. These approaches can be classified as process-theoretic approaches. On the other hand, there is also the invocation of structural-functionalist methods, which view the political effects of symbol manipulation and the ambiguity and ambiguity inherent in political action as sources of energy.

[Motoyoshi Omori]

Structural-functionalist approach

It began with Evans-Pritchard and Fortes's proposal of two types of society, segmented society and state, and has since progressed in the path of theoretical elaboration in response to criticism from political scientists. The classification based on the neo-evolutionary framework of E. Service and M. Fried, which also takes into account the results of economic anthropology, has attracted the interest of many anthropologists. Building on these results, the question of the origin of the state has recently been actively debated.

[Mitsuru Hamamoto]

Process approach

On the other hand, there are approaches that consider politics as a process and focus on the analysis of the activities of individuals and groups in conflict resolution and competition for leadership positions. As seen in the analysis of variables that shape the political process by M. Schwartz and others, the attempt by V. Turner to consider the political process as a social drama and study its development patterns, and the analysis of personal networks, pseudo-groups, faction formation, and the actions of political intermediaries and political "entrepreneurs" by J. Boasbain and others, a variety of conceptual devices have been presented to deal with phenomena that cannot be captured by conventional structural descriptions. Among these, one of the research trends that will attract attention in the future is the attempt by A. Cohen and B. Kapferer to reintegrate action- and process-centered analysis into the analysis of the symbolic order and its uses.

[Mitsuru Hamamoto]

"Traditional African Political Systems" edited by Fortes and Evans-Pritchard, supervised translation by Omori Motoyoshi and Hoshiaki (1972, Misuzu Shobo)" ▽ "Political Anthropology" by G. Balandier, translated by Nakahara Kiichiro (1971, Godo Shuppan)" ▽ "The Emergence of Domination" by C. Siegrist, translated by Obayashi Taryo et al. (1975, Shisosha)" ▽ "Two-Dimensional Man" by A. Cohen, translated by Yamakawa Takeya and Tatsumi Asashi (1976, Horitsu Bunkasha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

政治人類学はおもに種族民社会を対象として、政治権力の獲得と行使、それらが及ぼす影響を研究する。

［大森元吉］

歴史と対象

アジア、アフリカへの西欧列強の進出により、最初は非西欧的統治機構とそれらの働きが関心の的になった。モルガンのイロコイ同盟やフレーザーの王殺し神話の分析が発端で、神なる王、王母制、宗教的権威、身分やカーストなどが興味をひきつけた。政治人類学の発展は、アフリカでの事例研究を集大成したイギリス人類学者に負うところが大きい。植民地統治下の諸王国ならびに非集権統治機構の組織と活動の実態が個別に提示され、比較し検討する道が開かれた。しかし1960年代に入って新たな事態の展開がみられた。旧植民地諸国の独立であり、そこから欧米政治体系の導入と軋轢(あつれき)、新旧支配者層の衝突、庇護(ひご)従属関係の変質、地方選挙時の混乱など幾多の政治的不安と動揺が発生してきた。さらに政治人類学の対象として、先進諸国の少数民族と都市問題との関連追究が開拓されている。

［大森元吉］

政治人類学の新手法

新たにインドやラテンアメリカでの実証的研究の成果も加わって、行動分析的な新しい手法や概念が開発された。政治的事件にかかわりあう人間全員を示す「フィールド」と、彼らの活動の場である社会的・文化的空間をいう「アリーナ」に注目して、政治行為のプロセスを究明するものもその一つである。これらは過程論的アプローチと分類されよう。他方ではシンボル操作の政治的効果や政治行為に内含される両義性、不明確性をエネルギーの源泉とみる構造機能主義的な手法の援用もみられる。

［大森元吉］

構造機能主義的アプローチ

古くはエバンズ・プリチャードとフォーテスによる、分節的社会と国家の二類型の提出に始まり、その後政治学者の側からの批判にも答える形で、理論的にも精緻(せいち)化の道を進んできた。E・サービスやM・フリードらの新進化主義的な枠組みに基づいた分類は、経済人類学の成果も踏まえたもので、多くの人類学者の関心をひいた。最近では、こういった成果のうえに、国家の起源の問題が活発に論議されている。

［濱本　満］

過程論的アプローチ

一方、政治を過程としてとらえ、紛争解決やリーダーの地位をめぐる競争における、個々人や集団の活動の分析を中心にするアプローチがある。M・シュワーツらの、政治過程を方向づける諸変数の分析、V・ターナーの、政治過程を一つの社会劇ととらえ、その展開のパターンを研究する試み、J・ボアズベインらによる、政治過程において動員される個人的ネットワークや、擬似集団、分派形成、政治的仲介人や政治的「企業家」の行動の分析などの例にみられるように、従来の構造記述ではとらえきれない現象を相手にするための、多彩な概念装置が提出されてきている。こういったなかで今後注目される研究動向の一つに、行為や過程中心的な分析を、象徴的秩序とその使用に関する分析に再統合しようという、A・コーエンやB・カプフェラーらの試みをあげることができよう。

［濱本　満］

『フォーテス、エバンス・プリチャード編、大森元吉・星昭監訳『アフリカの伝統的政治体系』（1972・みすず書房）』▽『G・バランディエ著、中原喜一郎訳『政治人類学』（1971・合同出版）』▽『C・ジークリスト著、大林太良他訳『支配の発生』（1975・思索社）』▽『A・コーエン著、山川偉也・辰巳浅嗣訳『二次元的人間』（1976・法律文化社）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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