Definition

Political anthropology is a social anthropology branch that examines political structures and processes in primitive communities. Studying the politics of less complex civilizations is a crucial component of political sociology and a specific area of interest within social anthropology. The comparative study of politics in various historical, social, and cultural contexts is known as political anthropology.

Explanation

The comparative research analysis of politics and political framework is the focus of the subdiscipline of social and cultural anthropology, known as political anthropology. It was a required field, particularly for social anthropology in Europe, between the 1940s and the 1970s.

These various social control mechanisms are examined and contrasted by political anthropology. The level of agreement and the trends of equality or inequality throughout societies are also explored, as well as the power structures within such cultures. It explores how leaders use custom, coercion, persuasion, and religion to build or maintain power. The major questions raised include “Does a civilization still have a legal system even in the absence of official courts and written laws?” Additionally, it is intrigued by the methods by which individuals battle oppression, whether submissively, violently, or in other ways.

The primary contribution of political anthropology as a discipline is its thorough examination of everything connected to inequality and power.

The long-standing involvement of anthropology with politics, power, interests, and forms of contestation throughout the globe gave rise to the area of political anthropology.

Political systems in simpler civilizations vary from those in contemporary state societies in that they often do not exist as a distinct group of highly specialized, openly political institutions.

Political anthropologists’ current study interests include migration, gender, multiculturalism, post-colonialism, and post-communism.