Acephalous society

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Anthropologists use the term Acephalous (Greek for "headless") society to refer to societies which lack political leaders or hierarchies. These groups are also known as egalitarian or non-stratified societies. Typically these societies are small-scale, organized into bands or tribes that make decisions through consensus decision making rather than appointing permanent chiefs or kings. Most foraging or hunter-gatherer societies are acephalous. Modern anarchist and libertarian socialist societies that have abolished social inequality (e.g Freetown Christina, Anarchist Catalonia and the Kibbutz) may be considered acephalous as well.

External References

Cultural Anthropology Terms

See also

• Anarchism
• Communism
• Non-Stratified Societies
• Social inequality
• Elitism
• Class stratification
• Egalitarian

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Last updated on Sunday March 09, 2008 at 19:45:57 PDT (GMT -0700)
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