Societal Transformations Throughout the Yearly Cycle
In the "western world", where inequality continues to rise without integrated mechanisms to restore balance, anthropologists David Graeber and David Wengrow question the roots of inequality and wonder how it became an inescapable element of the human condition. This inquiry leads us to the study of hunter-gatherer societies, such as the Bayaka, who live in contrast to the fixed social structures of industrialized societies.
The Bayaka, a group of hunter-gatherers in central African tropical forests, are known for their highly dynamic social organization. Their communities adapt seasonally, with members moving between camps or forming different groupings based on resource availability. This flexibility allows the Bayaka to maintain adaptable and resilient communities, in stark contrast to the fixed, stable social structures typical in industrialized societies.
Anthropologist Franz Boas observed a similar pattern among the Kwakiutl, where inequality peaked during the winter. Winter villages were marked by strict hierarchies and grand ceremonies, in stark contrast to the egalitarian social structure of the rest of the year.
This model of seasonally flexible social organization challenges the common idea that human societies have inevitably progressed from mobile to sedentary, from egalitarian to hierarchical, and from simple to complex. Many academics trace the roots of inequality to the advent of agriculture, arguing that it "fixed" social hierarchies. However, this model suggests that small, mobile groups of hunter-gatherers (bands) are the most basic form of social organization, with societies evolving over time into tribes, chiefdoms, and finally states.
The Bayaka's social world changes according to the season. Their living arrangements, leadership, funerals, and other aspects transform based on the season. This flexibility extends to households and relatedness networks, which are documented by researchers by noting who lives where and with whom in shifting camps. The Bayaka do not maintain fixed settlements or rigid hierarchies but instead organize through kinship and cooperative sharing of food and labor that vary with ecological cycles.
This seasonal flexibility is not unique to the Bayaka. French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss documented seasonal transformations among the Nambikwara, an indigenous Amazonian group. For five months of the year, they inhabited large villages and cared for small gardens to feed themselves. When the dry season began, they dispersed into smaller, more mobile groups to find food. These changes also entailed a reversal of political authority.
Even more intriguing is the evidence of seasonal meeting centres built by hunter-gatherers, such as the bone houses and the enormous stone enclosures of Gobekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey. There's no evidence that these sites were permanently inhabited, suggesting that they were built and occupied temporarily when dispersed groups gathered to cooperate, share resources, perform rituals, and then disperse again.
Recognizing the long human tradition of social fluidity helps put the present in perspective. The "Western world" is not the culmination of a 10,000-year march, but an anomaly within a 300,000-year history of cultural adaptability by Homo sapiens. Addressing current challenges like inequality, authoritarianism, and climate crisis might require incorporating this flexibility as a fundamental aspect of our societies.
In conclusion, the Bayaka's seasonally flexible social organization challenges the traditional view of human society as progressing from egalitarian to hierarchical and from mobile to sedentary. This model suggests that the flexibility and adaptability seen in hunter-gatherer societies could provide valuable insights for addressing the challenges faced by modern societies today.
Science, particularly anthropology, has uncovered evidence of seasonally flexible social organizations among hunter-gatherer societies such as the Bayaka and the Nambikwara. This health-and-wellness approach, characterized by adaptability and collaborative sharing, could offer fitness-and-exercise solutions to modern challenges such as inequality, authoritarianism, and climate crisis. Incorporating these insights from the past could foster more resilient, flexible, and equitable contemporary societies.
