wagner, roy - socialgroups

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Chapter 4

Are There Social GroupsintheNew Guinea Highlands?

Roy Wagner


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96 Ethnology: Social AnthropologyIn order to more fully understand social anthropology, weattempt to answer some basic questions: What is the rationale

anthropology, the anthropology of sOciety? Where did its acome from and where did the questions and a n s w ~ s abousumptions come from?

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGYIn many respects the assumptions of social anthropolog

legacy of Emile :Ourkheim, the brilliant French social thinker nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Durkheim addressedman's moral and collective life-the forces and inBuences thaman beings together, their "groupiness" in all of its aspectsnomenon for scientific investigation. His writings so exclusive


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Ch. 4/Are There Social Croups in the New Cuinea Highits fine distinctions and its painstaking adjudication of "rights," for thinking about the moral collectivities of society. Of coursesocieties of the sort studied by Radcliffe-Brown, Evans-PritchaGluckman, and other social anthropologists did not have polisense, nor did they have laws, though many of them held cougaged in litigation. Furthermore, the emphasis on "rights" leto a consideration of rights of inheritance and a concern withalthough .the property in question was in most cases valuedbecause it was exchangeable for people, something that is altrue of property in our society.~ ~ anthropology gradually e v o l ~ e d into a kind of gamistic pretending: concepg with a very broad base of acceptaQderstanding. in W estern s Q ~ i e ~ J i k e "politics," c1aw," "rights,"


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98 Ethnology: Social Anthropologythe ways in, which native usages did not correspond to its thpectations. L[here were..iIlStances where kinship l l s ~ a g e fL


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Ch. 4/Are There Social Groups in the New Guinea HighFortes called the "sqcially weighted"_QI1TI_pf filiation, wherekind, r e l a t i ! l g J h ~ i n d i ' d c ! u a I to those outside his-descenLgrcalled "cQmplementarx filiation." The fonner provided the"p


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100 Ethnclogy: Social Anthropologyrather than being defined in contrast to it, aru:lsociety wasunderstood in terms of antisocjetj'.

Gluckman's theory of "rih1als of rebellion,." reflected in mof African social life, marked a further step in this direction.maintained that the institutionalized public dramatization of bellion against the ruler enacted regularly in some Africaserved to strengthen the ruler's position. By setting up a sonegation" of the ruler's authority, a kind of collective politicalationship, and then overcoming the negation, the social ordwhat it was by failing to achieve the opposite. 1J1e importtheory lieS.Jn its reliance on contradiction as a basis for explathough.Jirmly committed to the functional integration of sociedicative of a r a d i c a l ~ h i f t in the theoretical center of social a n


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Ch. 4/Are Tnne Social Group_ in the New Guinea Highlasociety alongtbe c e p t u a 1 i s t l i n ~ s of D u r ~ e ~ . Q w n work rt h ~ e legalist and ~ l i s t i c ~ B r i t i i l i - ~ o c i a L a n t h r o pwrote on the subjects of "primitive classification," dual organiconcepts of self and society, and on fonns of gift exchange. Pbest known of their works is Marcel Mauss's superb Essay oa book which, like Mauss himself, exercised a strong influencStrauss.

Qift e x c h ~ n g e , qr reciprocity, is where ~ t u r a U s m beginsLt is where quu;tionalism ends for the structuralists, for reciptween.incl;Mduals and betwe;ngrOllps is the structuralist ansfunctionalistll-uesDon "'What integrates SOCtety?" Assuming thpresence and significance of reciprocity, structuralism took aprQbkm that of how society and its arts are conceptualize


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102 Ethnology: Social Anthropologyhuman society descended. And it was from the taboo, withnecessity for reciprocity ("If I can't marry my sister I'll exchasomeone I can marry") that he derived . escent:tive aspect...Qf the prohibition is to initiate organization", (L1969: 43).

"Oraanization" turned out to be an inco oration of deo ~ r a d i t i o n a l forms and varieties ("patrilinea ," "matriso on), w i t ~ the exception that it was significant in concepthan in material terms . And although this borrowing ortradminology may not have been necessary for a theory which neeonly as a kind of "anchoring" framework for reciprocal relatrnd...organizatiou of some kind was necessary to structuraliSJl1, f

~ i t h functjonalism the view that a culturSLor society repres


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Ch. 4/Are There Social Groups in the New Guinea Highl'th the outri ht intention of Bndin s or with an una

sumption that groups o ~ e sort o ~ o t b e r are esaEi.,culture, then nothing wilJ keep. us from finding g r ~ . Aassessment is in order, then we must also be clear about whor expect in the way of groups. Do we mean the strict, emmaterial "corporate groups" of the social anthropologists, thcally based, flexible, inclusive social gradations of a segmensystem, or the totally conceptual constructs of the structuralisforemost ~ e should try ~ s w e ~ c i a l question of v/,to explain social stl1!ctJlre by groups at,sll.

We live in a culture in which founding, joining, participa! l ) _ t ~ g grOlips js =-a:aewseFate:: and i m p o r t ~ a t t e r .tional charters of Qur nations are founded on a notion of a


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104 Ethnology: Social Anthropologytheirs. He substitutes his own "heuristic") makin of rou sganizations, an logics for the way in w h i c ~ a t i v e s "9011ectivities. And it is this "native" mode of making society,its curious similarities to our notions of groups, economics, or that compels our interest here. The understanding of this crse is the only ethical and theoretical alternative to those patforts that would "civilize" other peoples by making over thetheir own creative efforts into hypothetical groups, grammarseconomies.In a s k i n ~ w h e t h e r there a r e ~ c i a l groups in the New G

_ ~ u ~ s , I am concerned not with what kinds of "groups" bestlocal communal arrangements, but r a ~ h e r \.Yith the way in


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Ch. 4/Are There Social Groups in the New Guinea Highfrom as many viewpoints as possible, with a certain naivetregarding groups and systems, as a fieldworker might approacus approach the Daribi, a people of the eastern NeVLGuineaamong whom I did fieldwork, in this way.DARIBI SOCIALITY

If we could go back and visit Baianabo, the site at wduring much of my first period of fieldwork (1963-65), in ten years before the Daribi people were "pacified" by the gwe would find gardens and a small settlement there. Yourecognize the gardens as such, for they would be of the "s"slash-and-bum" variety, with dead, bare-limbed tree trun


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106 Ethnology; Social Anthropologyally we discover that Waramaru is a good, hard day's walkwith many other peoples in between, and that the Nekapperhaps a half day's walk beyond that. I i the Weriai are i~ o p l e , " they are certainly spread over an ~ - 1 2 r e c i a b l e chscape; az:0 if some ljve with the Feria,.. others with the Sog~ h e y seem to be uite well partitioned, too. Is this a " roua non oca ized clanL' An whatever it may be, what is Kperhaps another name for \Veriai? But before we get out coand Queries in Anthropology, the standard fieldworker's gutions like this, to search for an appropriate definition, we sourselves that we are deliberately not trying to play the "heof calling unfamiliar socialities "groups" in order to salve explanation. A pat, group-centered definition just won't do,


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Ch. 4/Are There Social Groups in the New Guinea Highltinctions an actual correspondence of the tenns with discretsCiously perceived groups of people.

The tenns are names, rather than the things named Thtiate, saying "These are of the river, those are of the mountain,are the issue of Weriai, those of Daie," and they are ~ D i 6 c acause of the way in which they describe something, but becwaf' in which they contrast i t with others. In his masterful "totem ism," Levi-Strauss concludes that "It is not the resembthe differences, which resemble each other" (1962:77). Thu\Veriai means 'olinded" in Daribi and Daie means "to becooked," neither is intended literally; they are just names,capacity the content of one differentiates as effectively as that o~ s names used.-!o_ ~ distinctions, these terms are ve


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108 Ethnology: Social Anthropolcgymost varieties of which are scarlet to dull rose, though oneyellow, they will refer to the former as huzhuku and the latte~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i , , - ~ qJlalitJes o f _ t h ~ _ t ~ ! ] l 1 s _ . C d a r k ! l i g h t ) _turnout

. s i g n i l l s a n t i ! L ~ ~ i s ~ 2 ! l t e x t _ t h ~ ! L ! ~ . ! ? 0 ! e ~ 1 2 ~ j A c ("color") vaWhat are the social effects of this kind of usage? DrawiD

~ r i e s by c r e a t i n . g s . s m ! ~ ? : ~ ~ ~ . _ h ~ , ~ J l : 1 ~ _ ~ g ~ . ~ . ~ _ . g L l i U c i ~ i n g _ g r . . Q . . u p s .~ n e r a l ~ . ! ! t ~ t Q . L . o n e ' s ~ x p r e s s i o n , a l l u d i n K _ ~ ? _ ! h e ~ _ i n ~ ~ ~than 9 . Q D . s c i Q ! l . ~ . } ' . . _ Q r g g ! ! j ~ J n g _ Q [ _ . p ' a ~ t i c ~ p a t i n g . in the..IIh ~ gi ~ ~ _ to be "groups" take on a continuous and almost i . n y i ~like our ~ ; t r o n - o ( " t I D i e ; ' > w h i c h ' w e " f { k e w i s e " t r y t o - - e f i ~ i t ~ ~ dthe arbitrary contrasts and distinctions of our clocks and ca

The elicitation of social collectivities by indirect means isa mere rhetorical device among the Daribi; it is a style or mo


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Figure 4.1 A Daribi bride-price: pearlshelLs, axes, bushknives, shelland trade-cloth. (,."rfasi, 1968)exchange for his custody or affiliation. Pagebidi include the brothother close kin of a woman and the close maternal kin of aunmarried girl. All people must be "paid for" in this way, and ~0 ~ _ ~ I } g ~ _ d r . a Y ~ ' : 2 ? < : _ o n t r a s t ~ p . ~ b Y ~ ~ . ~ I 2 .. J . 1 _ ~ ! ~ ~ . p s ! , " " f w ~ e .

Thus every exchange in which a woman or child is "acquireman amounts to an act of differentiation, a separation of wife or of child (and sometimes adolescent) from maternal kin, through the giving of male wealth. And just as everyone has pwho must be compensated in this way, so everyone also has("house people"), centering on the husband or paternal relativdo the compensating. This distinction, plus the differentiating ethrough which it is made, is in itself the most important consideDaribi sociai life. In an important sense it is Daribi social life, for


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Figure 4.2 A Daribi bride standing next to members of the "gwho are wearing their traditional attire: cassowary plumes, whitand bodies blackened with soot. (Masi, 1968)

circumstances. Be' bidi must always be kept distinct fromthat even if closely related people decided to marry (as thedo), their relatives-even if they all live in the same housometimes do )-would a \ ~ e to subdivide into these two categoccasion. Moreover, in this or any other instance, the be' blutel:' forbidden to share any of the meat given by the lattDaribi themselves say that they marry the sisters andthose to whom they "give" 'meat, and may not marry amon\vhom they "eat" (or "share") meat. Thus the explicit distinin an:' exchange is one between those who share meat or othethose who exchange meat or wealth. Every such act and disti


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Ch. 4/Are There Social Groups in the New Guinea HighlanIt may, for instance, come to pass that some people who haveidentified with each other now want to intennarry; this will be cthough it may be inconsistent with earlier relationships, providsuitable and clear-cut differentiation is made among them.'

As in the case of names, the specific (definitive or descriptent of the things referred to (the social "units," the categoriesand pagebidi) is left implicit: what is made explicit is the dthat separates or differentiates them. Hence just as names may b"elicit" social collectivities in the act of distinguishing them, schanges that allocate rights to a woman or child can be seenspecific instances of be' bidi and pagebidi. By virtue of the rethat must accompany such exchanges, every exchange will creatsocial circumstances in this way. Even though one does not "


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112 Ethnology: Social Anthropologynot try to make them into representations of our own corpconsciously sociopolitical bodies. They are h U n : ! _ ~ p : . ~ ( ) ~ J ~ l ~ t ys ~ without i n ~ ~ ~ ~ J } ! _ ( E ~ ! i ~ % ... n d _ J h i s is_w.hy-_people.h

t h ~ distinctions themselyes, thouglL..Q_course.."in-the-,act-o~ t ; l T . ~ ~ ~ [ ~ ~ ~ . _ - f ~ . ~ y ~ . ~ i s 9 . . . ~ l i c i t the sOciality. In this respect __

~ o ~ . i l ~ of our Western fonns, where peopie make-thegrQdeliberate participation and thereby e l i c ~ t the "class" and " ntii1CtlOfis:------ . - - - ~ .----------_ .-- ._ , r . " . - .- - . . -._- .... - ._-" .It IS somewhat pointless, in tribal societies, to ask wher

themselves are, for they never really materialize. What wfonn of a village or a communal gathering is just a close apan ad hoc representation of an abstraction, one that "willsituation. S o c i a l i . t p 5 . . a - . ' . : b . e . c . o m i n g , ' ~ _ n o t ~ e , " thing, a


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Figure 4.3 Be'bidi: Tua people in their sigibe', a two-story longMen lit;e on the upper fioor, women on the lower.Guinea. Various reasons have been given for it: it is said people easier to census, for example, and to be more healthyinal arrangements. But in fact it has one overriding advaremoves the most important ambiguity facing these o u t s i d e"groups" visible to people w ~ _ o _ ~ ~ I J . 1 _ p J y c . a n r l Q t - G o . n c e i v . . e . . D f bpmin anvQtfie"i:...wav.- _.-.--- _.._..--~ ........

Most of the villages at Karimui were formed in 1961et al. 1971 :83), though a few stragglers were living in thpattem as late as 1969. By late 1963, when I first arrivedvillages were a characteristic part of the local landscape;were in fact living in these clusters, regardless of \\'ho madis this suffiCIent rcason to r e g ~ l r d them as groups? The qu


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116 Ethnology: Social Anthropology

~ 148 A

11c


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Ch. 4/Are There Social Groups in the New Guinea Highlaclothing, which originated partly because outsiders wanted thelike Westerners. This does not mean, however, that theyclothes in the way that Westerners do, treat them the way Wdo, or think of them in that way.Nevertheless, if w...e lQ9_k_at_the. people in a certain way, i~ ! _ ~ ~ e i n g s i g n i f i c _ a ~ t d i f : f ~ r e t : l c ~ s ) ..they will look like \Vesterilarly, i ( ~ _ e ~ ! 9 0 ~ ~ t t h ~ i r social lifejna certain way, we will e e ,

~ E ~ , _ ~ _ ( ) . r p o r a t i ( ) n s , or jural s y s t ~ m s . ~ e c a u s e the native sociat ~ ~ ~ . : _ ! , i b e r ~ ~ ~ _ : g ! 9 . ! : l ~ P g , ~ ~ however, but rather the oindirect e l i c i t ~ t i 9 _ f ! 1 . .ityvill take_on a different appearance w

c h ~ g ~ J . I ) _ t : q & - g l ? ~ ~ ! . Y ~ l ~ E ~ . ! : s p ~ c t i y e . We have been examininglayout of the houses on the ground, and have found it to be onrepresentative of "grouping." I f we choose to differentiate the saccording to the customary native distinctions (Table 4.1), w


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Ch. 4/Are There Social GroupS in the New Guina Highlaris assumed that the ureal" dogmas are those of residence (de Lep1967). And yet it would seem to be the anthropologists, rathernatives (to judge from the statistical records), that have broughonto the scene. T h ~ J t e r n a t i v ~ _ ! g _ . ~ ~ ~ ~ _ ~ _ ? g ! ! ! ~ ~ ~ . ~ E t J ! g a . g h .. h ~ ~assumption .of'Joose t r : u c ~ ~ , ~ , g ~ 9 . u p s _ ~ t h a certain strategic o

" g i : y ~ ' ~ j ~ w ! h ~ J E w . 9 ~ g g n g ~ t i o n (Pouwer -1960 f-' { ~ , " ' , ~ ! ? < ? ~ ~ . ~ I ] g ~ ~ment for having your errouns theoretically and eatinO' them RracrO t h ~ r s h ~ ~ e ' g ~ n e ' f ~ - ; t h ~ ~ ; - d " ~ ~ g g ~ ' ; t ~ d ~ n m ; ' p r ; ~ ~ a t - ; r y ' b ' ~ ~ ion the part of Melanesians (Held 1951, "Vagner 1972), or poconception of society itself as a flux (vVatson 1970) as I have dClearly if capable, experienced administrators, armed withNations mandate and .303 rilles, have not been able to rearrapeople into c l e a r - c u t ~ Western-style groups, we would be ask


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120 Ethnology: Social Anthropologyself to a certain model, his conclusions are to a certain determined.The issue of social groups and their "reality" mayor masignificant one, depending on what kind of anthropology onein. But the implications of what the anthropologist does whenthe existence and the necessity of groups are essential matanthropologists to consider. They suggest that we are creators the peoples we study, and we must take heed of our own cwell as theirs. To put it somewhat differently, the assumption oputs the anthropologist on a par with his subjects; the native"anthropologist," with a "working hypothesis" of his own reway of life. And regardless of how we wish to put thattogether, we must come to terms with its own "theory" as a ma


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Ch. 4/Are There Social Group. in the New Guinea HighlanA collection of eleven short papers dealing with marriage highlands societies, with an Introduction by Mervyn Meggitt.

invites theoretical as well as ethnographic comparisons amonferent viewpoints and societies represented.Leach, E. R., 1966, Rethinking Anthropology, London Schoonomics Monograph in Social Anthropology No. 22. New Yorkties Press Inc.

This collection of provocative essays may seem dlfHcult ginner, but it is an excellent way of experiencing firsthand ththat Leach and his structuralist colleagues bad on the world social anthropology. Beginning with a valuable general intLeach goes on at some length to discuss his structural interpr


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ings of the British social anthropologists owes its origins tcollected in this volume.Schneider, David M., 1965, "Some Muddles in the Models: O

System really Works" in ASA Monograph No.1: The RModels for Social Anthropology, ed. M. Banton. New YorA. Praeger.An analysis and clarification of the two dominant bodiessocial anthropology, "descent theory" and "alliance theoryticular attention to the crucial conceptual differences that seAlthough somewhat advanced, the exposition is clear and forcto repay dose reading and careful attention with some real ia significant theoretical crisis.

wagner, roy - socialgroups

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