Modes of production revisited

• Modes should never be thought of as a new typology; rather they are models that define political processes ground- ed in material conditions that result in contrasting social formations. These Modes can then be used to compare cases across prehistory and history. We recognize two vectors of variability in political processes: 1) scales of political formation (local community to regional polity); and 2) institution- al means of resource extraction (staple mobiliza- tion to predatory extraction). Working from Eric Wolf's seminar formulation, we distinguish two gen- eral Modes of Production: Kin-ordered Modes and Political Modes (a.k.a. Tributary Modes of Produc- tion) that represent contrasting political formations at the scale of communities vs. regional polities. We discuss how, at each scale, institutional formations of chiefdom-scaled societies used distinctive mecha- nisms for finance based on different revenue sourc- es (local staples vs. distant wealth). Many theories of emergent complexity emphasize rising population densities as creating conditions of control over sub- sistence production. Archaeological research, how- ever, in Europe, Central Asia, the Pacific, Mrica, and the Americas are anomalous, documenting emergent social stratification and political control under conditions of remarkably lower population density. This alternativepathway can be called decen- tralized complexity that characterized much ofEurope during the Bronze Age.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Modes of Production

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