Intersocietal Inequalities in Very Small World-Systems

这个项目考察了两个孤立的(接触前)社会系统，测试了世界系统理论的延伸。这一延伸预测，内部阶层较少的社会(即更平等的社会)将发展社会制度，使它们不太容易受到外部征服或统治。研究集中在两个案例上，加州和夏威夷，都是在欧洲接触之前的时间。当时的夏威夷显示出相当大的分层，而加利福尼亚州几乎没有。该项目使用了这些社会的民族志记录，包括存储在伯克利和史密森博物馆的访谈记录，以及对这两个地区的考古研究。假设检验需要从人类学和考古学记录中推导出社会间和社会内部等级等概念的衡量标准。这项研究的结果将提高对导致霸权关系的条件和维护国家独立的机构的原因的理论理解。

This project examines two isolated (pre-contact) social systems, testing derivations from an extension of world systems theory. The extension predicts that societies having less internal stratification (that is, more egalitarian societies) will develop social institutions making them less susceptible to external conquest or domination. Research focuses on two cases, Califor- nia and Hawaii, both in the time before European contact. Hawaii at that time showed considerable stratification, and California, almost none. This project uses ethnographic records of the societies, including records from interviews stored at Berkeley and at the Smithsonian, and archaeological studies of the two regions. Hypothesis testing requires deriving measures of concepts such as inter- and intra-societal hierarchies from anthropological and archaeological records. Results of this research will improve theoretical understanding of conditions leading to hegemonic relations and the causes of institutions which preserve national independence.