The Imbalance of Power: Leadership, Masculinity and Wealth in the Amazon

Amerindian societies have an iconic status in classical political thought. For Montaigne, Hobbes, Locke, Hume and Rousseau, the native American ‘state of nature’ operates as a foil for the European polity. Challenging this tradition, The Imbalance of Power demonstrates ethnographically that the Carib speaking indigenous societies of the Guiana region of Amazonia do not fit conventional characterizations of ‘simple’ political units with ‘egalitarian’ political ideologies and ‘harmonious’ relationships with nature. Marc Brightman builds a persuasive and original theory of Amerindian politics: far from balanced and egalitarian, Carib societies are rife with tension and difference; but this imbalance conditions social dynamism and a distinctive mode of cohesion. The Imbalance of Power is based on the author’s fieldwork in partnership with Vanessa Grotti, who is working on a companion volume entitled Living with the Enemy: First Contacts and the Making of Christian Bodies in Amazonia.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgements A note on Trio and Wayana orthography List of acronyms and abbreviations Maps Introduction Guianan Leadership Guiana The Trio, Wayana and Akuriyo Fieldwork and its Limitations Structure and Scope of the Book Chapter 1. Making Trio and Other Peoples Ethnogenesis A Theory of Continuity Substance and Filiation Telling Stories, Making Groups Time, History and Identity ‘The Trio’ as a Group Ethnogenesis and Alterity Missionisation and Ethnicity: The Contact of the Akuriyo Slavery and Identity Marriage and Manioc Strategic Ethnicity Leadership Inside and Out Chapter 2. Houses and In-Laws Leadership, Inequality and the House Houses and Housebuilders The House as Artefact The Collective House Scale and the Household Consanguinity, Affinity and the ‘Atom of Politics’ Symmetry and Asymmetry Leadership and the House as Idea Chapter 3. Trade, Money and Influence Economic Influence Exchange and Trade Trading with Maroons Money The Politics of Air Travel Airborne Evangelism The City, Prestige and Mobility Air Entrepreneurship Public Speaking Literacy Metaphysical Communication Bible Economy Leadership and Influence Beyond Consanguinity Chapter 4. Music and Ritual Capacities Structured Sound Tortoiseshell Pipes: Individual and Collective Rattles and Shamanism: Percussion and Harmony Capacity, Blowing and Song The Music of the Other Speech as Music Ceremonial Dialogue Music and Leadership Heterophony Music and Difference Chapter 5. Owning Places and Persons The Language of Possession Moveable Wealth The Value of Land Names and Places Gender Asymmetry and Women as Property Ownership, Wealth and Influence Conclusion: Society Transcends the State Glossary Appendix: Trio Relationship Terminology References

About the Author :
Marc Brightman is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Bologna. He has published on a variety of topics including ownership, indigenous movements, animism and forest governance.

Review :
“This book makes a crucial contribution to Amazonian anthropology, bringing to the forefront a topic that has remained under-thematized in the last decades.” · Carlos Fausto, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro "This remarkable book on indigenous leadership The Trio, Wayana and Akuriyo (all from the Upper Tapanahony, Suriname), skilfully uses the tools of anthropology to provide us with enlightening ethnography, far from the usual traps of isolation, environmentalism and indigenous resistance." · AIBR