gibson_haas_anthropology of warcap6.pdf

8/11/2019 Gibson_Haas_Anthropology of WarCap6.pdf

1/11

TH OlvlAS GREGOR

thal of "ifutisu

,

the tefln used by

th

e C a r i b - S f l ~ J k i n g tribes

in

the

X

in gu

system

(sce Basso

1973: 12-1'+ ,.

4. Fo

lia

ge from this

pbllt is

burned and the

as

h

is

Icaehed \Vith water

lo produce potassium ehloride, the sall of the Xinguanos As the

villa

gc

rs describe

it

, the Carib

tri

b

es'

sp

ee

ialii'ati

ol1S

in , hell belts

and nec

kla

ces should also be consldered labor intens

ive

monopoli es, sin ee they

in

vo ll'e longand dange rous trips to find the

shell s, and arduous \Vork to craft th em into Ih e final produet.

5. AII

of the Xingu

tri

be s eat

fi

sh, monk

ey

, and a

numb

er of speciesof

birds, i c l i n g most game animals.

6. The \'i1lagers are far more aeute1y attuned

to

odors than \Ve are, and

will

often spit to reduce the sensation ofabad sme

ll. n

Jeeounts of

interaetion with both

wild

Indians and

for

es t an imals (with whom

wild

Indians are believed

to

share a great d

ea

l

in

eommon) the

Xinguanos often remark on th e fetid smell.

7. Some of t

lIc

Xinguanos claim

to

have seen a tri

be

ea lled "Thc

People Who Live Inside Trees" som e

di

stanee to th e east of their

reservation. The tree people purportedly live in tr ee trunks, eat

uneooked bir

ds

, \Vear no clothes, and spea k in hoots and grunts.

Symbolieally, this eultureless tribe fulfills an ani mal-like potential

whieh other wild Indians onl y approximate.

8. In

1972, 1witne

ss

ed

the killing of an Xingu Indian who

\Vas

haeked

to death \V ith machetes as

we

tri

ed

to hold off

hi

s J

ssa

ilants in a

room at the Indian Pos t. .

\f t

er

th

e exeeu ion,

th

e killers ex hibitcd

an iey

ca

lm.

One

approaehed me , pointed

to th

e co rpse and thc

wa

i)ing relati

ves

and s

aid:

"You ca n take photographs now."

9. T hcse findings are based primarily on In y wo

rk \Vith

Tupi and

Ar awak speaking informants.

124

Raiding

trading and

tribal

autonomy in insular Southeast

sia

T HOM AS GIBSON

In

this paper, war fare

in

insular Southeast

Asia

is

exa

min ed through the

compa

riso

n of three groups ofhighland shifting cultivators .

The

thesis

s that the current soc

ial ev

aluation of violence and

agg

ressio n within

eaeh group is

th

e result of differing historical e

xp

e

ri

ences

wi

thin a

loosely int

eg

rated r

eg

ional political economy dominated by th e institu

ti

ons of s

lave

raiding and coerced trade.

Th

ose groups

po

sitively

di

sposed towa

rd

bellicosity are those which pl ayed a predominantly

pr

eda tory ro

le

in the r

eg

ion, while tho

se

which are nega

tive

ly

di

sposed

t

owa rd

v

io

lence

in

any form were primaril y pr

c\.

Th

ere i

s,

however,

no thing de termini s

ti

c about the argument ,

for

each concrete example

rcp

re

se

n

ts

onl

)'

one of a number oflogically possible r

es

ponses

to

a gi

ve

n

sequencc of historical eve nts.

All

three groups s

till

retaill a sign ifica nt

degree ofau

to

nomy over their internal politi

ca

l and ideol

og ical sys

tem

s,

and each must be seen as creatively responding to a changin g

se

t of

e> ie

rn al politic

al

and economic forces.

n the

fi

rst part of the papcr, a brief outline is pr ovided of th e general

hi

stori

cal co

ntext

in

which these three soci e

ties

have d

eve

lope d. [n

th

e

se

cond part, an ovcrview of eaeh socich is

gi

ven. III th e third

pa

rt, their

respective attitud

es

toward \'iolcncc, social ranking and i ndebtedness are

12 5


2/11

THO

M AS GIBSON

compared and contrasted. The paper concludes with a look at so me of

the implications of asking questions about human violence in the

contexts of exploitation and of ritual attitudes, as opposed to those of

aggression and competition for scarce natural resources .

SOUTH E AST ASIA AS A

LOOSELY

INTEGRATED R EGION

Southeast

Asia is

a region in which the sea serves

as

the major means of

communication and the land forms the major impediment to

it. It is

often easier to sail long distances from one island to another, than to

walk

across the smal est island (Reid 1984: 151). Dense rain forest and

rugged mountains provide a natural barrier behind which tribal popula

bons have been abl e

to

preserve a remarkable degree of autonomy into

the modern era. This autonomy should not mislead us into assuming,

on the one hand, a complete lack of contact between tribesmen and sta te

systems. On the other, extensive trade also should not lead us into

treating tribal areas and

sta

tes as

belonging

to

a single, tightly integrated

system. I is precisely the importance of trade in the history of the region,

associated with a pattern of predatory raiding,

whi

ch

has

al owed the

complex articulation of fundamental y diverse cultural and political

systems. Violence and commodities are truly inter-cultural

phenomena, which can have very different meanings for neighboring

populations, and at the same time exert decisive influences on the

de velopment of each trading and raiding partner.

Scott (1986)

gives

an illuminating account ofthe political economy of

the coastal Philippines at the time of Spanish contacto His account mal'

serve

as

a model of one of the simpler forms of maritime economies

in

the region. The Philippines remained peripheral to th e major interna

tional trade routes until relatively late.

Even

then

it was

primarily

Chinese ships which traded into the islands, and not Philippine ships

which sailed

to

China. As far

as

domestic Philippine trade

is

concerned,

however:

Every community traded with other communities, and most of them did

it by

boat..

the total impression is one of continual Illovements of rice, camotcs,

bananas, coconuts,

\Vine, fish

, g:lllle , salt and cloth between coasta l barrios -

to

say

not

hi

ng

of gold , jewelry, porcclain and slaves . . [Raiding]

\Vas

the

eseemed occupation of the able-bodied maJe who could afford

it

.

..

Although

raiders took booty both asha re and afloat when theyeould, then real objcct was

126

a

iding trading and tribal autonomy

slavcs

.

t is

to cal attention

to

the mixed merchandizing of this]

comme

rce

[that

it

] is here re

ferred to as

"trade-raiding." Potential customers

for

this trade in

th

e Philippines were legion because the purchase of slaves

wa

s an

ordnary means of investing surpJus wealth Filipino commllnities supplied

most of their own slave labor

by

usury and penal aetion, but always preferred

aliens

for

religious purposes - that

is

, sacrifice . (Scott 1982:

87

91)

Trade in the western parts of the achipelago had long been more

sophistica te

d.

The

Sri

Vijayan state dominated regional trade between

the seventh century and 1025, when it was destroyed by the Chola

dynasty

ofS

outh India. Its rulers had been "content

to

provide a neutral

comme

rc ia

l facility

for

the exchange of Western, Chinese, and

Southeast Asian products" (Hall 1985: 210). In later times, local rulers

of coastal sta tes began to supplement their position as mere port

custodians, servicing the ships of Chinese or Indian traders , byattempt

ing to secure local products from their hinterlands

for

the international

market. Prior

to

the fourteenth century these products were

in

large part

gathered in th e forests of the interior (items su eh as camphor, sandal

wood a

nd

benzo in), or from the sea (items such

as

pearls) and had to be

acquired f

ro

m autonomous groups of shifting cultivators and hunter

gathercrs (see Reid

1980:

236 ). After the fal ofSri Vijaya there fol owed

a two hundred year period in which Arab, Indian and Chinese traders

attemptcd to trade directly with the producers of the spices and forest

products for which there

was

a growing demand both in south China

and

in

Europe. However, according to Hall:

By the 13th century

Asia

's internal trade was baek in the hands of Southeast

Asians, as foreign merchants found it once again expedient to deal with

Southe

ast

Asia-based intermediaries at major international entrepots rather

than attempting to deal directly with the people who controlled the sources of

supply.

(H

all

1985:

24)

One aspect ofthis process insufficiently emphasized

by

Hall

is

the fact

tha

t human labor power itselfbecame a "local product" to

be

acquired

from

the hinterland

for

sale in the entrepots along the coasts.

Before indentured labor w

as

de veloped in the ninc

te

enth centllry, the mov

e-

ment of captive peoples and

slaves wa

s the primary source of labor mobility

in

Southeast Asia. Typically it too k the

for

m of transferring people from weak ,

poli tically fragmellted societcs to stronger and weal thier (mes. The oldest, and

demographically most important movement was the border raiding against

animi

st

swidden-cultivators

an

d h unter-gathers

by

the stronger wet-rice culti

vators of the river valleys There s

ec ms

little doubt that the ma jor

ty

of the

Southeast Asian urban population prior to about 1820 was rccruited in a captive

27


3/11

THOM S G

IBS

ON

state . Slavery

was

an important means whereby animistic peoples \Vere

absorbed into the dominant Islam of th e city and coast. (Reid 1983: 28-29.

17

0 171

Warren

1981)

has amply documented the exp lo sive growth of the

Sulu state during the eighteenth and nineteenth century, a growth that

was

based upon a system of extracting forest and sea produce, by means

of slave labor, for trade with Cantono

The

labor was itself"produced"

by

raiding the poorly defended populations of the Bisayan islands and

Luzan. Again, Endicott

1983

provides a usef

ul

summary of what

is

known concerning slave raids against the Orang

Asli

of th e Malay

peninsula. Throughout the area it is clear that slave-raiding h

as

gone

hand

in

hand with international trade from the earliest tim

es.

The

forests and mountains which protected th e tribesmen of the inte rior

from day-to-day control and routinized ex ploitation by th e

coas

tal

states, also left them militarily weak and unable to resist the organizcd

slaving expeditions which were periodically launched against th em.

Shifting cultivation in the tropics requires a low population density and

is

most efncient when the population is evenly disper

sed.

This is not to

sa)' that shifting cultivators were themselves inno cent of slave-trading

and slavc-;IOIding. Among the Ngaju of south Borneo and the Maloh,

Melanau, Ka)'an and Berawan of central Borneo, for example, a class of

aristocrats

was

freed from subsisten

ce

production for lon

g- di

stance trade

by

it

s ownership of a class of hereditar)' slaves. The Iban also took ca

p

tives

as well as heads from their enemies

for

ransom,

sa

le or adoptioll.

The relative underpopulation of Southeast Asia also had consc

quences for lowland societies in the area.

One

of th e chief aims of

warfare for both coastal and inland states was the

ca

pture of prisoners

to

suppl ement the domestic work force (Reid

1980:243;

Tambiah 1

976:

12

0).

Th e key to Southeast i\sian social systems was th e cont

rol

of

meno

Land \Vas

assumed to be abundant, and not therefore an index to power (with the partial

exceptions of Ja va and

Ce

ntral Thailand in relati ve ly modern times). lt is this

tha distinguishes traditional Southeast Asian states from feudal O1es. Soc icty

\Vas held together by ver ti ca l bonds of obligations between meno (Reid 1983: 5

These bonds of obligation could

take

the form of voluntary loyalty

to

a

lo

rd

, indebtedness to a creditor, or outright ownership b), a purchasing

master. Chattel s

la

ve ry

was

o

nl

y the endpoint of a continuurn of

clyaclic

relations of depenclenc y.

128

Raiding trading and tribal autonomy

he prominence of debt and judicial sentence as sources of slavery appea rs to

be distme

tivc

Jll the Southeast .\sian pattern Since inability to paya judicial

fine rna} be takcn

as


4/11

THOM S G IBSON

R IOING AN O TR AOING

IN

SOUTHE ST

SI N CU L

TURES

The

preceding discussion of the loosely integrated regional economy of

insular Southeast Asia has defined the context in which the societies

now

to be

described have had

to

operate.

In

the fol owing discussion of

three groups of shifting cultivators, I shall focus on the moral and

symbolic values attached to activities in which raiding and trading are

involved.

The Buid

The

Buid are one of a number of highland groups in Mindoro knovm

col ectively

to

tile lowlanders as "Mangyan," a term which has strong

connotations of inferiority, wildness, and even slavery. It should

be

pointed out, however, that the lowlanders have begun

to

use sandugu,

Clone blood," or "blood brothers, " as a term of reference and add'ress

for

the highlanders. The implication of, and reason for using this term, is

that the lowlanders would like the highlanders to feel bound to the

lowland speakers

by

ties of artificial kinship. These ties should obligate

the highlanders to treat the lowlanders with affection and gratitud

e,

but

aboye

al! to

trade and

to pay

their debts.

The

highland Buid reject the

term as presumptuous, for they view the lowland traders as a necessary

evil, whose view of society

as

made up of moral and material debtors and

crt:ditors is the direct antithesis of their own.

In

the Buid value

sy

stem, violence

is

only the ultimate outcome of a

whole series of negative forms of interaction which begins with boastful

ness

buagun)

and quarreling

garisugan

"reciprocal aggression").

Isug,

" aggression," connotes al! that has a negative value in Buid sociallife:

the uncontrol ed expre

ss

ion of individual emotion and the assertion of

egotistic desires, the attempt

to

dominate others, and, ultimately,

physical violence and murder. They regard

maisug,

"aggrcssive"

behavior, as

being typical of their lowland Christian antagonists, \\'ho

th

e)'

continual y hold up as a negative example. This word has a \Vide

distri hution in the Philippines. Among the Tausug Muslims, it rders to

a l that is positively valued in men: virility, courage, and the ability to

stand up

for

onc 's honor (Ki e

fer

1972: 53 ).

The

Buid, by contrast, ha\'e

no word

for

"courage,"

in

the sense of a positively valued aggressi\'e

attitude

in

the

face

of physical danger. There are many words

for

fcar of

130

Raiding , trading and tribal automony

and

Aig

ht from danger, neither of which is seen as being reprehensible.

Indced, they are the only rational response to danger.

It

is recognized

that Bu

id

may on occasion act in an aggres

sive

manner, but such

behavior is attributed either

to

a weak mind, unable to control the

emono

ns

of

its

soul and body, or

to

affliction with a f

ngarisuga n

"spirit

which causes aggression." I am aware of only one homicide occurring

within a Buid population of one thousand in a ten year period, and that

was

ca rried out

by

aman with a fearsome reputation as a sorcerer.

Rather than compete

in

perfonning acts of courage, Buid youth are

most like

ly

to spend their time learning love poems with which to court

young girls,

The

southern Buid and the neighboring Han unoo have

preserved a script which

was

used t hroughout the Philippines in ancient

times.

The

main purpose ofthis script

is

to record and memorize poetry.

The

so

rt

of prestige one can acquire with one's knowledge of poetry, and

the sort of "conquests" one can make are the very oppos,ite of those

acquired through "bravery" and violence. Seduction

is

not associated

with aggress ion among the Buid as it is in other cultures which value

aggress iveness

in

men.

The

poems themselves are full of gentle imagery.

In addition to their categorical aversion to aggressive behavior of any

kind, the Buid place an extremely high value on individual autonomy.

This is taken to such an extreme that even parents are reluctant to

intcrfe

re

in the behavior of their children more than is necessary. '1hey

strive instead

to

substitute the dependency of smal children on specific

adults with their dependenc\' on the adult community as a whole.

Betwcen

ad

ults, there should

be

no hillt of dependency, either emo

tional or material. Such attitudes account in part for the extremely high

rate of divorce among the Buid. While the optimal economic unit

in

Buid soc

ie

ty consists of one

ad

ult maJe and one adult female, and

virtually al! adults belong

to

such a couple at one time , there is a

high rate of turnover in the co mposition of couples. A divorce

is

almost

always caus

ed

by one partner

de

ciding

to

marry a new spouse.

Th

e

abandoned partner rec

ei ve

s a sum

of

mutual y agreed compensation

and then begins his or her own searcb for a

ne\\!

spouse, often setti ng off

a chain reaction. Children soon learn to accept whatever step-parents

Come

their \Vay. (EIsewhere I have described in dctail Buid attitudes

towa

rds dyadic relations of dependenc)' [Gibson

198

5

J.

)

In order to maximize individual auton omy and mobility, some

mechanism must be found which allo\\'s people to detach themsclvcs

from their prcscnt sct of companions and attach themselves to a new sct

131


5/11

T H

OMA

S G BSON

without much trouble. Thi s mccha

ni

sm

is

what 1 call

"s

haring," and

was

first clea

rly

identifi

ed in

the study of hunting and gathering

societi

es.

It is bas ed on the principIe that "cntitlelllent does not depcnd

in

any

wa)

on donation" (Woodburn

1982: 441 ).

Individuals are

obligated

to

share certain goods an d services with the r

es

t of the

comm unity. Among the Buid the most obvious example is again meat,

wh

ich

is

only bu tcherecl on ritual occas

iollS,

and whi ch must be sharcd

out in portions which are identical in both quantity and quality among

all those p

rcs

ent regardless of age or sex. Performing these rituals is no

route

to

augmented status,

for

the)' are onl)' carried out

in

responsc

to

illn

ess

or c1eath withi n the sponsoring householcJ. Their/performancc is

thus a demonstration not of the wealth and vitalty of the sponsors, but of

their misfortune. No one

is

obliged

to

receive a portion of meat, and no

one

is

obliged

to

repa v the individuals whose sacrifices they Ilavc

attended in th e past. T he only obligation is on the giver.

1 have argued elsewhere that

th

e characteristic manner

in

which Buid

cOllduct

cO

l1\CrsatiollS, help each other vvork 011 their fields, and,

inde

ed,

m

lrTy

and divorce ma y best be describ

ed as

the sharing of

speec], labor and sexual intercoursc IGibson 1986: 44-48,

83-84

). Tlle

underl)'ing principIe is th at str ictly d:adic rclationships are likel y

to

cad

to

either competition and aggression, or

to

dominance and indebtcd

n

es

s. If each indi \'idual sees himself or herself

as

interacting only witll a

undi fferentiated social group,

th

e possibility of losing one's personal

autononw is minimize

d.

Sharing pr even

ts

ties of personal depenclcnc"

from ari sin gb)

l1la

king the

in

dividual dependent onl)' on the group,

ancl

so ensUTCS both autollomy and equality within thc group.

Buie

ritual ac

ti

vitv

is

also carried out on a cooperative basis, and no

individual adopts the role of

sp

eciali::t with privileged access to the spirit

\VorJd. 1\11 adult men possess spirit familiars , and m\'stical

pow

er derives

from large numbers of men chanting together.

Constant particip;ltion in obligatory co

ll

ectivc ri tual, in which the Icgitirnac\ of

rcligiolTS

belicf deri\ es f10m perso nal cxperi ence of the spirit \Vorld, and 110t

from traditioll as interprctccl by elders or speeialists, from a sacred te:i

t,

or from

th e pri\'i1cged cxpclienec of a charislllatie figure , provides t te Buid \\ith a

shared ce,e of belicf a

ncl

a

cl

cep conviction of the rca lit)' of invisible p()\\ns

(Cibson 986 48

)

Buid vie\ ' themselv

es as

the pr

cy

of a host

cf

evil spirits who fca

st

011

them when they die

in

the same

\Va\

that thc Huid

fea

st

011

th e

ir mm

pig

s. ::meling within

th

c humall community is b

cl

i

evee to Tender

Raiding trading and tribal automony

peoplc more vulnerable

to

attack by the

se

evil spirit

s. In

the religious

sp

herc, th en, aggression is associated with violence, killing, and in the

case of the most dangerous

ev il spi

rit, cannibali sm .

The

most feared

spiri t is the

fangablang

a giant

sa id to

resemble a

Ch

ristian l

ow

lane er.

The Buid may be sa ie to have an economic

sys

tem which maxi mizcs

a

ma rr ie

d couple's ability

to

be virtuall )' self-sufficient, and a political

sys

tem which maximi

zes

people's ability

to

form

ancl c1issolve

soc

ial

rclationships. It eliminates competition

for

pmvcr

l l l

prcstige by

r

es

tr

ic

t

in

g ally form of dyadic interaction.

'rhe

two

institutions which 1

ha\'e sai

e

constitute thc l lain forms of interaction between neighboring

societ

ie

s in Southeast Asia, raiding and trae ing, are both assig ncd

n

ega ti ve

s

ym

bolic values and refe

rred to

the ext

er

ior of the soci

ety.

Buie

acquire lowland trade partners and put up with th e c\ ploitation th

ey

suffer bccause they must

c

Gibson

19 86: 16

). But thc concepts of debt

and dcpendency on

wh

ich this trade is

bascd

are not allow

ed to

operate

wi thin Bu

id

societ

y.

Raiding is a matter of suffering predation by

nil

and aggressive outsiders in the material and mystical \VorJe s, but

countcr-

ra

i

cl

ing is confined

to th

e imaginary world of spirit mecl ium

ship. F

li

ght, and quick integration into ne

\V

communities through the

institu

i

ons of divorce and s

ha

ring, are thc IlIain c1efen

se

s against raiding

in th

c ma terial

wo

rld.

Put more ahs tractly, one can characterize the Buid and other gro ups

ofp eopc

like

them as having an

id

eologv of ascribed equa lity: people are

conside

re

d equal no matter how successflll the

)'

are

in

various activities.

The llongot

he I1ongo t of northern Lll zon resemble thc Bu ie in th eir ega litarian

values anc l

ass

e

rti

on of

in di vi

d

ua

l autonomy.

Th cy

differ from the Buid

pr imarilv in terms of th

ci

r attitud

es

tO\

v

are s

violen ce and competition.

Scott

1979),

",ho ha s

\Vorked

out a

cl ass

ification of

u

nhispanizcd"

Philippine societies acco

rdi

ng

to

class structure, includ

es

the Ilo

ng

ot

with he Mang ya n in his "classless" category.

Des

pite thcir fondne ss for

h

eacl

hu nting, Seott resists

pl

acing them

in hi

s category of "",arrior

societi es" bccause they do not "practice coup counting whi ch mi ght

p

ro

duce a warrior elite."

Th cy

also

Ia

ck

a class term for accomp

li

shed

W


6/11

THOM S

GIBS

O N

c1

ass

less

societies

is

perfectl > l

,=g

itimate given the purposes of Scott's

c1assification, 1 require

for

my own purpo

ses

a c1assification which

privileges attitudes toward violence, aggre

ss

ion and dependenc

y.

The

motivation

for

engaging

in

violence among longot youth is

precisely

to

achieve equality with adult

meno The

Ilongot do possess a

form of ranking, but

it

is

of the simplest sort: that between

yo

uth and

age

.

Where the Buid are uncomfortable with and play down the dependency

of children on adult

s,

the [Jongot emphasi ze it and play around with the

opposition between the passion of youth and the knowledge of age.

Inside the hou

se

men tl y

dek

[co mmandJ women, who

in

tmn

pass

their

commands on

to

children, and children are quick

to tl1ydek

th

os

e

who

are

you nger than themselves. Th e dynamics of tl1ydek tend ultimately to permit all

adults the ordedy poi se of th e platform - while requ

es

ts

for

betel, food, tool s,

and water set childrcn

in

almost continuous motion across the relativelv

unordered

Hoor.

(M.

Ro

sa ldo 1980: 72) .

The

impetus toward violence comes from the fact that

yo

ung men

mu

st pro

ve

their passion , or aggress

iv

enes

s,

in

order

to

acquire a

wife

and gain the respect of other adult

meno

Of coursc,

in

dail y lif

e,

unmarried youths are th e

su

bordinates of thcir

es

tablished scniors . Though free to

move

and

to

r

es

ist reque

sts

that contradict

their plans and

wis

h

es,

young men lack

wives

and gardens of their own and so

are subject to "commands" tl1ydek) by se ni or kinfolk in whose households they

reside. Adult men may decide to "Ie

nd

" th e labor of their sons, and thus affinn

their ties of kinship and conce

rn

with their adult fellows. (M.

Ro

sa ldo 1980:

155

With marriage as with beheading, thc yo uth transform s hi s social self by

demonstrating that he is an "equal" - dependent on no other man , and

equivalent, in "angry " force,

to al .

(Ibid:

165

Among the longot, then, courting

is

a

ssoc

iated with aggression.

In

line with the cultural idealization of males

as

warriors

is

a relati"cly

greater elaboration of gender symbolism,

in

which tbe sexual division of

labor

is

more explicit, and the inability of women

to sc

ale the same

heights of achie

ve

ment

as

men is stressed.

MicheJle Rosaldo (1980) points out that the ideal of autonomy among

the longot applies

less to

individuals than

to

households. Divorce is rare

and a cause

for

violence (pp .

8,

n . Women are exchanged in

marriage

by

men, and are always under their authority

(p.

84).

Ilongot

men must acquirc control over a woman

to

become autonomous, and

until they do they are dependent on th e men who already control

134

Raiding trading and tribal al1tomony

wome

n.

Thi s notion that one must gain control over women leads

to

a

rel

uctance

to

relinquish control over them , unless it be in return

for

contro l over another.

Thu

s Ilongot youths reae aggressive

ly to

the

suitors of their sisters.

Beca

use marry

ing, Iik

e beheading, pro vides young men with terms that

will

define their adult status,

all

men of a cohort m

ay find

themselves caught up

in

fights co ncerning wo men - and it

is

not smpr

is

ing that Ilongots o

ft

en allay the

liget I"pass ion" or "aggression"] sparked by marriage with an "exchange" of

maiden "

sis

ters". . (

p.

170

Tbe

not

io

n that marriage is a strenuous achievement, rather than a

natural result of physical maturation, parallels the need

to

achieve

equa

li ty

with adult men through acts of bra

ve

ry and violence.

The

Ilo ngot economy is built around a symbolic opposition betwee n

the "eo

ll

ective" activity of men in hunting, meat distribution and

pollar

di ng

the trees in swiddens, and the "individual" activity of \\lomen

in plan ting, weeding and harv

es

ting rice in swiddens (R. Rosaldo

1981

).

While

wo

men probably cooperate with one another as much

as

do

men,

"women's cooperative labor is seen as casual and informal, deserving

neither cclebratory feasting nor other public note" (M. Ro saldo

19

80:

133

.

T hc llongot hold a "cultural view of rice

as

private produce, the

fruit of individual effort in a private field" (M.

Ro

saldo 1980: 133).

Hunt

in

g,

on the other hand, even though it is often carried out by

individuals

for

the private sale of meat in the market, is always bound up

witb the public domain; game is either traded with outsiders or shared

within the group:

it is

never intended

for

consumption

by

a single

llOuseho

ld

.

And the reluctance ofIl ongots to talk about inequality of

skill

among hunters

is

r

oo

t

ed

in a

view

of game

as

a collective product, publicly appropriate

amI

consumed.

(I bid:

118

Adults both re

fu sed to

boast about how much

ga

me they had bagged, and

persisted

in

maintaining thei r doctrine that no man was a more gifted

ht1ntsman th an another Men who found themsel

ves

again and again

compelled to coopera te on short-term projects fe lt they could not enlist the aid

of men who St008 aboye or below th em upon any imagined ladder. Only

equals,

as

th

ev

5aw it, could work together

in

improvi

se

d and coordinated

ham

lOny.

(R. Ros aldo 1980: 145-46

Th

is brings

us

to

what

rsee

as

the peculiaritv of

th

e

ll

on

go

t among

all

the Southeast Asan societies so far described, and which dispo

ses

me to

place them

in

a class on their own.

Thc

y p

la

ce enormo

us

str

ess

on

135


7/11

TH

O M

AS

G

IB SO

N

ac hi

evcl11e nt and

co

mpetition, and y

et

th ey regulate th

ese

ty

pe

s of

bcha\'i

or

in such a way th at

in

e

qu

alih' cloes not res ultoTh at is, for thc

Il ong ot, ac hi eve ment is not a matter of "more or less," but of "whethcr

or not": wh e

th

er or not a man h

as

taken a he

ad

, acquired a \Vife,

pr

ovid e

cl JO

ea t for the

se

ttlement.

Ha

vin g acquired th e sta

tu

s of adult

hood ,

th

ere are no furth er statuses to be attained, o

nl

y th e one to be

maintaine

d.

For not o

nl

y must equality be

ac hi eve

d in

th

e

fir

st

ins tan ce , it is a frag ile thing whi ch is constan tl y be ing put

in qu

es

tion .

\ dail y \Vorld in whieh au tono mous and equaJ adults engage

in

eo opc rati\ 'e

inte

ra

ction is ShO\'ll , through oratory, to be as fragile as it often is '

(

: VI.

Rosa Jdo 1980: 220'1

Oratory is

th

e domaill in wh ich th e Il on

go

t play arou

nd

with th e

notion of dyad ic exc

ha

nge

an

d the dange r of imba lances

be tw

een equals

whi

ch

ma

y result fro m it. Oratorical nego bati ons are nne of the c

hi

ef

cultural mcchanisms used by th e

ll

on

go

t to defin e a

nd

crea e equality

bctwee n m

en

oThey are de signed to move from a situabon in which

neg;, tive recip

ro

city

ob

ta

in

s betwe en

fe

uding groups, thro

ug

h

th

e

bal anced r

ec

ip

roci

ty of n

ego ti

a

ti

on to the ge n

era

lized r

ec ip

roc

it

y of th e

ki lI gro

up, T

hey

requi re tw o ba lan

ce

d groups to even

be

init

ia

ted: if one

gro

up is much st

ro

nger th an its

en

emy, it simply abso rbs it or hounds it

out of existellce ,

Fo rma l eove nant ap pea rs, in short , to requi re an equa Jity of diffcrcllce,

s

tr

ength, a

nd

"an ge r . , . Although covenants by th emse lves do not neeess itate

further dealin

gs,

marri ages

ove

r time pr

ov id

e th e grounds for future visits and

eooperati on ; as sueh, th ey eo nstitute a so

rt

of

tr

ansition from a state of

di

ffe

renee an d balanee d op p

os

ition to one of mu u ality and aekn o\\'ledgcd

bo n

ds ([

bid:

210-11)

It is as if Bui d-ty pe rul es ofsharing and the r

ep

r

essio

n of aggr

ess

ion are

foll

owe

d within Ilongot

b

er

tan

(l it

er

all )' , "groups of people ofone kincl ,"

l

ab

el ed by

th

e R

osal

d

os'

"bila teral descen t

gro

up

s ).

But whe

re

the Btlid

o

pp

ose the operation of th ese \ ;]u es wi thin their own

soc

iety to the

co

ntraIS valu es operative in lo",land Christian soc iet

y,

the two \'alue

s

ys

tems operate

in

differcnt so

cia

l

si

tu ations within

Il

ongo t society.

Ag

gres

sion,

ex

changc,

an

d potcntial d

eb

t are

Il

ot evil per

se in

Ilongot

soc ie

ty , They are

in

ev itab le char

dc

te

ri

s

ti

cs of d stage

in

th e

maJe

I1ongo t's li

fe

cvel

e,

as he see ks to acquire a \Vi

fe

, pro \'e his abilih to

defend

hi

s dutonomy, and cooperate

\\'

ith adll

lt

men as an equal. '['bey

are

bal

an

ce

d by

th

e kn owled

ge,

mutualih J lld

ack

now ledged equality of

adlllts,

6

F\a

id ing tradi ng and tr ibal au tono my

Th

e Il o

ng

ot h

ave

dn econol1lv \vhic h str

esscs

tb e alltonomy of the

hou

se

hold as o

pp

osed to th e

in

div idual or th e co mmlll1ity more strongly

than th e Bui d, Their politi cal S)'stCIll al

so

b

in

ds an

in

di\ icl ual to hi s

kin gro up h) opp

os

in g

it

to oth er potentiJl ly h

os

tile "ki n" gro llp S

Whcrc the

BlIid see

competition as lea

cl in

g to th e eve ntual

cl

omina

ti

on

of one party ove r th e oth er, and so necessa ril y e

vil

, th c Ilong ot

vi

ew

compctition as a necess

ar

y stage in th e ac hi evement of ecuality.

t

mar be noted th at th e Ilongo t live at thc hea d

wa

ters of th e lar

ges

t

ri,'cr in Lu zo n,

as

far fro m th e coas t asone can ge L Slave raiding V

as

not

the

pe

rs istent th reat in thi s ar

ea th

at it

\\'a

s

th

ro ughollt

th

c Vi

sa van

islands to the so uth ,

Th

e onl y society in northern LlIzon whi ch

p s s ~ s e c l

chattel sla

vcs

was th e Bengllet, where thcy

\Ve

re employecl for

mine labor. Raiding tl

lf

oughout th e highl and s of northe

rn

LlI zo n was

alw

avs more ritual a

nd

political than econo

mi

c

in

mo

ti ve:

it wa s hea ds

an d

rcvc

n

ge

th at wa rri ors des ired, not

pri

so n

ers

to k

ee

p or trad e as sla ves.

1t

is al so poss ibl e

th

at trade ha s not

pl

ayed

as

im

po rtant a rol e in Ilongo t

hi story as

it

has in soeieties closcr to th e coas

t.

Asid e from sca ttered

references to th e sa le of

ga

me, th e Rosa ldos make little mention of trdde,

or depc

ncl

c

ncy

on t

ra

di

ng partn ers,

In

sum, 1 wou

ld

argue

th

at

th

e

lIongot

re

prese nts a society wh

ic

h b

as

not cleveloped the sa me abso lute

rejecbon ofviolence/raidi ng a

nd

debt/

tradi

ng as h

a\e

the

Bu

icl , and th

at

thcre is l

ess

e\' iclcll

ce

of the

pr

esen

ce

of

th

e in

th

c

ir

symbol ic life ,

due tu th eir relative iso la

ti

on from

th

e Illaritime \Vorld ,

he lban

The Iba n are vigo rous traders and raide rs, as their bi story atte sts (P ringle

1970). As Sa

hl

ins (1972:

224- 226)

has

arg

ued, th

ey

are unu sual f

or

"tri

ba

l" pe ople in keeping an exa ct account of lah

or

exc hanged bet\\'een

hou

se

hold

s,

a

nd

in limiting

th

e sha

rin

g of stap

le

foo d surpluses, Th

is

is

becau

se

lhe latter must

be

stored up for

tracle

\\'i th outsi

de

rs, As

icl

e fro m

othe r fu nctions,

th

e acq

ui

si

ti

on of

pr

estige goods such as

jar

s and gongs

in traJe al o serves as a buffer


8/11

THOMAS

C

IBSON

The Iban method of shifting cultivation is such that the labor of

young men

is

only reguired

for

hvo or three months

ayear. Th

e

dom

es

tic group, or

bilek

usually contains enough women and older

men to free young men for the acti vihes of tra di ng and raiding, or bejalai

(Freeman

1970:

2

22

- 24).

The Iban live al ong large, navigable rivers and pos sess a fair degree of

maritime s

kil . Thi

s meant that they are likely

to

ha

ve

been more

intensively

in

volv

ed

in mari time trade than mountain dw ellers, and are

thus somewhat more sophisticated. But it

al

so gave them the ability to

mobilize much larger numbers of people than shifting cultivators

inhabiting ru

gg

ed mountain tenain.

At

the same time, th

ey

had

to

au opt more aggr

ess

ive tactics in their own defen se. In the nineteenth

century they were able

to

put thousands of warrio

rs to se

a in war boats

holding 60 to 1

00

men cacho

Th

ey are reported

to

ha

ve

served

as

merce naries in IIlan un war Aeets, the most fea red sla ve raiders

in

al

of

Southeast

Asi

a, although later th

ey

beca me their bitter enemies (Pringle

1970 : 5053, 76 .

They have gone from being the must succe

ssful

and expans

i.oni

st

warriors of Sarawak, during the nineteenth century,

sw

eeping all other

shifting cultivators before them,

to

being widely traveled migrant traders

and lab orers in the

tw

entieth:

For

Iban

you ng men

th

en (a nd partic

ul

arlysince the

ces

s

ati

on ofheadh unting),

go ing

on

journe

ys

is th e gr ca test and most consu ming inter

es

t life ha s to offcr . .

. th e mos t p

ow

erful in ce nttve is the very considerable social pres tige which a

much-tra

ve

led ma n

ca

n comma

ncl

. Above all , it is only after hav in g

accompli shed Illany successful journ

e)'s th

at

am a

n beg

in

s th e

pe

rformance of

th e se rics of elaborate rituals (all based on th e instituti on

ofh

eadhuntin

g)

which

confer prestige

in

middle and o

ld

age. (Frce man 1

97

0: 222-24)

T ra

di

honall y,

Whcn he had takcn a he

ad

, and o nly

th

en,

wa

s an Iba n male entitled

to

havc

the back ofhis han

ds

tatooed. With this achi eved, hi s pro

\V

ess was on constant

displa y .. Asuccessflll young head-hunter, it is sa id , could have his

pi

ckoftllc

most des irable

yo

ung women, and \Vas mllch soug ht

aft

er as a husband.

In

contr

as

t, aman whu had nc\ cr taken a head, or who \Vas

kn

own

to

be rc1uctant

in battle. would bc told b, t

:1C

\Vomen he courted: "FiTSt sc ale the pos ts ofan

ene my 10ng-hollse; firstb edc ck your

ha

ir as does he who has tak en a hcad ."

(Freeman 1979: 238)

Vi olence and

ag

gression were direct

ly

Iinked to courting, and head-

hunting itself wa s preliminary

to

a ritual intend ed to

se

cure both fe

ti

lit

y

13 8

Raiding trading

an

d tribal autonom y

and pr

es

tige fo r

it

s male sponsor.

Th

e

se

head -hunting ritual s are

"oc

ca

sia

ns for

the celebrati an of

th

e

pr

eoccupations and

th

e narciss ism

of mcn" ([' recman 1968:

38

8).

The lbans are known to have ta kc n their enemies ca ptive for sa le or

ransom, as

\Ve ll

as merely taking the

ir

he

ad

s. But

th

ere

was

no place in

ban for

a cla ss of hercd itarv sl aves. Freeman presen ts conv ine

ing argu

me nts

that

war

eaptives \\'e re not incorporated as a permanent

stratum in Iban society, but were either ranso med or adopted into a

bi

lek.

thc fu nd

amental corporate group,

as

cqual membe rs, with egual

righ ts

to

inhe ritance.

nl

Clls

tom of rituall y enfranchis

in

g and

ad

opting capti ves takcn

in wa

r, which

was inte

gr

al to thc

tr

adi

ti

onal society of Iba n, is a striking express ion of their

cgalitar

itl Il

values. (Free man 198 1: 47; cf. Rousseau 1980: 59)

Olle

mus t not gel carried

aw ay

, however, in cxtolling Iban

"ega litarianism" simply beca use unequal statuses were not, in

princ

ip Ie

, hereditary.

Blek

units maintained careful aecounts of labor

crcdits anu debits be

tw

ee n each other, and if an individual or hi s

bilek

eould not repay a debt, he might be obliged to pay the debt "in part or in

who

lc

by

th

e labor o

fhim se

lf or others ofhis

bilek

(F

re

eman

1981

: 49).

At

thc other end of the

lad

J er of ac hi cvcment,

\va

s th e

raja brani,

literally, "

ri

eh and brave man ":

On

ce

he had succeeded in taking a trophy heaJ , a warrior was entitl ed

to

tatl

oo

on t he bac

ks

of his hands, and hus adorned he could , if he ha d also a

mass ed

sufficient \\'ealth, come lo be recogni zed as raja brani . This, howc\'Cr ,

wa

s not

the ene to an ambiti ous incli vidual's qu est for reknown, for there was l so in

Iban culture an ascenclin g

sc

quence of complex rituals, or gawai a

7

at,

spce

ifi

ea

ll

y a

ssoc

iated

\Vilh

thc cult o

fh

ca dhuntin

g,

th

a

he cou d , r he cho

se

pcrform. T hese gawai a 7 at (l it. true rituaJ

s)

we re al wa)'s per

fo

rm cc by

indiyiduals . . . Su eh ritual

s.

the more eomplex of which (las ting for four or five

days) dcmanded exlcnsivc r

cs

ourccs, \Verc pcrformed befo rc and after maj or

ra

i

ds

,

\V

ith

th

e celebran

t3

kin g the invocation

(ti171ang)a

stag c furth cr

on

each

occasiO

Il

until, over a span of for t)' or more \'cars, th e sequence 'Nas complete.

(fi'rec man 1981 : 40 )

Even ritual Me. then , is eharac ter ized

hy

a hierarchy of achi eved

sta tus

cs

. Shamans fall into three c

lasses:

"raw" or no

vi

ce, "ripe" or full y

i

ni

tialcd, and "transfo rmed" or transvestite. Frecman describeu the

boasts of onc master shaman, and his denigration of the abilities of all

others (F reeman

J967:

320).

Al

though skill in rice cultivatio n \\ 3 S important

to

a man's pr

cs

tige, it

139


9/11

GIBSO N

is primaril y succ

ess in

competitive and viole nt endeavors away from the

longhouse that

is

the measure of prestige within it. Internal ranking is

the resu

lt

of mastering an external rea lm of activity. The Iban sce

themse lv

es

as

pr eda tors of the outside world: of neighboring tri bes,

whom they raid

for

h

ea ds; ofthe

environment, whose virgin forests the\'

cut do

wn

; of the r

eg

ional econom

y, in

which th

ey

eam wages

for

brief

spclls be

for

e retuming home.

Th

ey

stand in marked contrast

to

the

BlIid, who

see

themseh-es

as

the prey of the ollts

id

e world.

In

short, while

th

e

Bll id

got the \Vorst of the regional

sys

tem of

tra

ding

and raiding, the Iban thrived on

t. Th

e Iban ma)'

be sai

d

to

ha\ 'c a

politi

ca

l economy which maximi

zes

the autonomy of a domestic group

bilek ),

frees

men for raiding and trad ing by assigning m

os

t of the

agriclIlturallabor to

th

e femal e members of

th

e bilek , and allows

for

the

temporar)'

or

ganiza tion of largc groups of men under charismatic

individuals, \Vho lead their

follo\Vers

on trading expeditions, migrations

to new riv er bas in s, a

nd

on headhunting

ex

peditions (F'reeman 1981:

35-36). T he ove r-a ll ethos is one of achie \'ed ranking. Every individual

is expected to prove him

sel

f, but there

is

a fin ely graded ladder of

achievement, with the ranking of individuals according to merit the

ultimate goa l.

N

O

O O N

1'0 sllmmari ze : the Buid rej ect an)' form of violence, aggression, or

e\-en

competition.

Am

ong the Buid, cIen quarreling is thought

to

ha\'(:

my stically dan

ge

rous eonsequences

for th

e vitality of both hllmans and

crops. Th e

l

ongot and

th

e Iban s

tress

the competit ive achievement of

sta

tus by typically engaging

in

sporadi

c,

violent

assa

ults on members of

neighborin g soci eties

in

order both to demo nstrate the virility of their

male members and

to

ac quire m

ys

ti

ca l vitality by obtaining head

s.

The

stress on individual achievement also lends a rather c)'clic charactcr to

violen ce

in

th ese soc ieties. Raiding parties are organized by ambitious

individuals more or le

ss

according

to

whim 1M.

Ro

saldo 19

80: 139;

Frceman 1

98 1: 36).

As a reslllt, rncrnbers of thesc societies hal'c

historica

ll

y a

cq

uired a great deal of noto

r

et

)' as

h

ea

dhunte

rs.

AIl these soc ieties represent specialized adaptations

to

the regional

poltiea l economy. Al l d instituted hierarchy. The cx treme empllJsis

on indi vidu

al

autonomy and rejcction of super-hou

se

hold allt]ority

ev ident among them must bc seen as a rejcction of the poltiC:J1 \alues of

I-H)

Raidlng trading and tribal autonomy

thcir

pr

edatory l

ow

land neighbors Far

fr

om cO llstituting primordial

classless societies, they must be seen as political groups which have been

able

to

m

ai

nta

in sig

nificant d

eg

r

ees

of autonomy only

by

d

eve

lopi'lg

special soc

ial

mechanis

ms

for evading control by the lowh: .ds. '1 he are

neithcr pri stine trib

es

men, nor are they ,

to

borrow a phrase from Fox's

argument concerning South 1ndian hunter-ga

th

ers, mere adjuncts of

agrarian s

ta te

s (Fox

19

69).

Fo:>. a

nd

Gardner (1966) argu e that the central fea tures of South Asian

hun ter-gatherer soc ieties are attributable to th eir enclavcment within

ag

raria n states. These features include highl y m ig ratory indi viduals, a

stress on individual autonom)', and a va lu e system which condemns

aggress ion and competi tion. The se fea tures make them clearly compar

able

lo

the Buid. Fox and Gardner

go

on, howeve r, to characte

ri

ze these

soc

ie

ties

as non-cooperative and

as

lacking sharing or r

ec

iprocity

between fa mil )' groups. This secms to be rather an exaggeration, for as

amo

ng

most hunter

-g

atherer groups, even

in

South India , meat which

is

not traded is shar

ed

out equally among

all

members of a camp, while

gathcred vegetable foods are retained within the family (Gardner 1972:

41 5; Morris 1977: 231;

Ro )'

1925: 69- 88) l'\eve rthe

le

ss,

it

remains

poss i

bl

e that the exposure of the South Asian hunter-gatherers

to

a

dense, fixed-fi eld agricultural population has pl aced them under grea ter

inter-cultural pr essure than the Southeast A

sia

n highlanders exposed

onl)' to the sporad ic interventions of th e coas

tal

trade-oriented stat

es.

Onc

resu lt of such pressure might be a necess

it)'

to further intensify

in

dividual mobility and

to

further diminish the sizc of sharing groups.

Mobility and sharing

ar

e mutually reinforcing

in

stitution s and serve

as

a

hi

g

hl

y cffect i

ve

mc

afls

of evading control by ne ig hbors who cannot

be r

esi

sted mil itarily. As I ha

ve

argued above, shar ing is characteriz

ed

by

a radical di sconnection between giver and recipient. It is this character

istic lack of strong

dyadic

bonds which has led writers like Gardner to

characterize membe rs of societies organized around sharing as atom

iSlic. But if one looks at sharing in terms of the moral bonds which

llnite th e individual to the group, this characterization appea rs

inadequate. Th

ese

bonds are often emphasized in collective rituals.

wh

ich

ac

t out the mystical dependcncv of the individual on the group.

Therc are many

in

s


10/11

THOMAS

CISSON

these

forest

dwellers are often called

by

a term which means "sIave" or

debt slave,

e.f;.

Sakai for the Orang

Asli,

Ata Aeta or Agta

for

the

Philippine ),egritos, and .\Jangyan for the highlanders of Mindoro.

Since the lowlanders aIready regard the members of these groups as debt

slaves,

it

would be fatal for those people themselves to acknowledge the

principIe of debt. These societies thus reject, ofien explicitly, the mast

fundamental princ

ip

Ie of lowland state societies: dyadic dependencv

phrased

in

an idiom or moral and material indebtedness. .

Individual mobility and a syste in of sharing which allows people to

enter into immediate social relations without regard

to

pa st transactions

are

t vo

essential features ofBuid society. But the rejection of attempts to

acquire prestige through acts of violence or through feast sponsorship

sets the Buid off from the IIongot and Iban as well . Among the Buid, the

symbolic equation of violence and dominance with life threatening

external forces

is

so complete that the central life generating rituals of

the longot and Iban are negated: headhunt ing and the competitivc

sacrificing of large animals. Where animal sacrifice

is

carried out, it

is

done

in

as non-aggressive a manner

as

possible.

The

Buid share with the Ilongot and Iban a refusal

to

grant political

power to any individual or office

in

their respective societies. It has been

remarked again and again that the most "conserva

i

ve" cultural groups

are those which lack internal stratification: finding no point of appli

cation within the enclaved society on which

to

apply pressure, external

agencies must try to control members of the former one by one.

Colonial states confronted with such a society, tried to crea

te

"chiefs"

where none had existed, usually with little success

(see,

for example, the

appointment of Iban penghulu "headmen, " by the Brookes [Pringle,

197

0:

157]) .

In

the extreme case of the Buid, even boastful behavior

is

seen as immora .

It is

quite inaccurate

to

characterize members of such

cultures as "submissive": they

do

not respond to attcIlIpts

to

dominate

them with violence as do longot and Iban, but they are just as insistcnt

on the maintenance of their personal autonomy. Buid will ofien resort

to suicide if imprisoned by the state, or even threatened with imprison

mento

They will not voluntarily wo

rk for

wages, disliking being placed

in a position where they must o

bey

the

will

of another. They

\ViII,

however, at times render labor at absurdly low rates of remuneration as a

sort of tribute

to

lowland patrons who furnish them sorne protectian

against the more violent elemcllts of the lowland population.

t

is

when groups ofhighlanders

engagcdl in

a

sul

Distcl'lce systcm sueh

42


as hunting and gathering or shifting cultivation are brought into

un

avo

idable confrontation with the members of aggressive state

system

s

rhal om:

is

most likely

to find

Buid-type systems developing. The mode

of subsisten ce must be compatible with a certain degree of mobility, and

the highlanders must inhabit a tenain sufficiently resistent to

eas)'

penetration by subjects oflowland states to make this cultural adaptation

feasi ble. It

is

not unlikely that all the formerIy autonomous societies

in

sim

ila

rIy exposed geographicallocations which had an internally ranked

structure have long since been incorporated into the hierarchical state

systems of the lowlands, and that the autonomous groups which have

survive d have done so beca use they possessed an ideology which

re jected any form of dominance.

CONCLUSIONS

The argument of this paper is that any explanation of the role of violence

and domination

in

the social

lives

of insular Southeast A

sia

shifting

cultivators must be sought in terms of their relations to the regional

politic

a

economy. This relation

is

inAuenced by their geographical

situa

ti

ons, and their consequent degree of exposure

to

the trading and

raid in

g econom y of the region . But it

is

impossible

to

argue that their

idcologiesare "caused"

in

any sense

by

their own subsistence economies

or by their role in the larger regional system. It is pos sible to argue,

howevcr, that their continued existence as autonomous political and

cultural groups can be explained

in

terms of their development of

ideolog ies appropriate to that end, given their different geographical

situations. G

ro

u

ps

which failed to develop appropriate ideologies were

either abs orbed into lowland states or eliminated. There remains an

urgcnt need to understand the interaction of societies with autonomous

ideologies and value systems

in

a common regional economy, without

eithcr reducing these ideologies

to

epiphenomena of the wider s

)'

s

te

m,

or

ign

oring the

real

effects of commodity rela

tio

ns and milita )' force

Upo

n the component societies

in

thc regional system.

fh e argument

in

this paper addresses the question of the "causes" of

wa

r a

nd

pea ce in Southeast Asia in a manner

very

diffe

re

nt to the many

of t he papers in this volume.

In

conclusion, 1 would

like brieAy

to

indicate so rne of the areas of disagreement, and the implications th ese

have for our understanding of human violence and war in general.

Somc writers

view war

as a natural phenomenon, susceptible of

I B


11/11

THO

M A S GI B SO N

explanation in terrn s of universallaws, rather than of particular histori

cal dc \ dopments. Th e

ir

tende

ncy

is to look for pan-human drivcs

to

rna ximize either inclusi ve fitne

ss

(Chagnon , this volurn e) , or

ac

c

ess to

natural

re

sources (Ferguson,

~ r n e i r o

Haas, this voJume).

Thc

se

attempts to treat a socio-historical phenomenon in naturalistic tcrms

have familiar effects: sine: war is assum ed to always derive from the

sarne essential cau

se

, it is treated

as

a single , unitary phenornenon,

ea

s

il

y identifiable across time and space. What

is

needed, rather, is an

atternpt to differentiate types of inter-group violence, and to re cognize

that

ea

ch t:p e may require an entirel y different sort of theory to account

for i

t.

As Ferguson (this vol ume) note

s,

ques tions about war and viol enee

var)' depending

011

the broader theoretical context in whi ch they are

a

sk

ed.

f

they are asked in the contex t of individual motivations or

sentiments, su ch as aggre

ss

ion, th ere will be a tendenc y to concentrate

on either biological or psycho

lo

gical issues, which have a timeless

universal quality. If they are rai sed

in

the context of a struggl e for scarcc

re

so

urces , between evenl y balanced opponents, there is a tendeney to

vi

ew it as a game be

tw

cen

pl

aye

rs

who begin

as

equa

ls

and onl y end

as

"winn er" al1d "Iose r. " Th ere is a redu ction of inter-group violence to

timel

es

s qu

es

tio

ns

of

ta

ctics and strateg) , of"game theory." Foc

usi

ng on

aggress ion and focusing on scarcity are both conducive to a view of

violent conAict

as

somchow patho

lo

gical , the product of maladaptive

personality or social structures. Violence

is

both an inevitable and an

evil part of the human condition.

In this paper, violence ha s been di scussed in relation to exploitation

and

to

ritual.

Thi

s approach highlights the

rol

e of

vi

plence in what is

perhaps its most preva k nt and sigllificant form sin ce the origin of

sta

tes

and cl

ass

es: the exploitation of a \\caker group - class, gen der. ethnicit)',

na

ti

on,

ra

c

by

a stronger group. In thi s view , viol enc e and war ar e not

"about" natural sca rcity or individual sentiment

s,

but "about" socially

produced surplu

ses

(

for

some) and scarc

iti

cs (

for th

e othe

rs).

Occasional

c1ash

es be

tw

ecn the ruling elites operating two parall el sy

st

ems of

ex ploi tation, which is th e normal subject of in

ve

stigations of"war," l11a: '

then be seen for what it

is

: a subsidiar

)

and intermittant form

of

violence. Furtherrnore, for the group which profits from th e \iolcnce

built into a system, violence will be seen as anything but a

ll

egati\c

phenom enon. It

\V

ill , 011 the contrar

y,

be eelcbrated and glor

ifi

ed. This

brings

li

S to the question of

ri

tual. Violence

in

any society \\iJl be

I-H


ass

igncd a \ alue, and it

\Vill

h,

ve

different values in different situa

ti

o

ns.

Very rarely is it

se

en as evil in

all

situatio

ns

, although the Buid provide a

rare ca se in which it is. In political eco nomies

ba

sed on the coe rei ve

ex lrac tion of surplus value from neighboring soci eties, inter-group

vi

ole

ll

ce may even be fe

ti

s

hi

zed

as

a product of

my

s

ti

cal vita

lity in

it

se lf.

'

hus violence is neit]er a necessary pa

rt

of

so

cial life, nor is

it

ncces

sa

ril y seen

as

an evil: there are

so

cie

ti

es whieh systematically

de

va

lue it , just as there are soci eties, or ruling groups within societie

s,

which vic\\

it

as the ultimate good when exerci s

ed

in appropriate

co ntcxts against thc right opp onents.

Notes

T

hi

s

pa

pe r is based on researeh earried out am ong the Buid

in

the

ficldf

ro

m 1979 to 198 1, an

da

gai n in 1985 , a

ndonlib

rary r

es

earch

cOIlJueted in 1985-b6 The second peri od in

th

e fi eld and

th

e

li

bra ry resc

ar

eh was

fu

nded by

th

e Ha

rr

y Frank C u

gg

enheim

Foundatio

n.

Different versions ofthis paper ha ve becll prcsented at

th

e confcren ce 0 th e Anthropology of War hclJ at

th

e Schoo l of

Ame

ri

ca

n Researeh , at th e Scminar on Eql1ali

ty

and Incqua

li

ty

held by the London Schoo l of conomi

cs

Depa

rt

men t of Soc ial

Anthropology, and in

th

e Co

ll

oquiulll of

th

e Department of

Anthropology of the Unive rs

it

y of Roe he ster. hi s draft ha s

benefited f

ro

m corn mellts by participants in

a th

ese lTlee tin

gs,

and

fro

m detailed co mments by Wli

alTl

He nrv Scott, Mauriee Bl

oe

h,

and erome Rousseau. My thanks to

all

of th em. W

hi

le 1 have not

alwa

ys

fo

llowe

J their

ad

viee, 1 ha ve al

lVa

ys found

it

stimulatin g.

1

5

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