List of stateless societies

This is a non-exhaustive list of societies that have been described as examples of stateless societies.

There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a state, or to what extent a stateless group must be independent of the de jure or de facto control of states so as to be considered a society by itself.

Historical societies The following groups have been cited as examples of stateless societies by some commentators. But the classification of these societies as truly "stateless" is controversial. SocietyPeriodNotesRef.Essenes2nd century BCE – 1st century CEMystic Jewish sect with communal living practices.Frisian freedom800–1523Territory notably not run under the feudal practices normal in Europe at the time.Taborites1420–1452Hussite faction which maintained an independent Tábor. Arguably a prototypical anarcho-communist society.Republic of Cospaia1440–1826Microstate created by historical anomaly, independent of bordering major powers. This territory lacked many state-like apparatuses.

Indigenous societies Human society predates the existence of states, meaning that the history of almost any ethnic group would include pre-state organisation. The groups listed below have been identified as examples of stateless societies by various commentators, including discussions relating to anarchism. SocietyProvisioning systemHomelandRef.Aboriginal AustraliansVariousAustraliaImazighenAgriculturalMaghrebAndamaneseHunter-gathererAndaman IslandsJohn Zerzan, Future Primitive Revisisted (Port Townsend: Feral House, 2012), 13-14.AngaHorticulturalJos PlateauAnuakHorticulturalAnuak Zone, GambelaBassaSubsistence agricultureBassalandBeromSubsistence agricultureJos PlateauBiriforVoltaBoboSubsistence agricultureBobo-DioulassoCroatanSubsistence agricultureCroatan Sound"Indian Towns and Buildings of Eastern North Carolina", Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, National Park Service, 2008, Retrieved 24 April 2010.DanAgriculturalManDayakAgriculturalBorneoDogonSubsistence agricultureDogon countryEkoiHorticulturalEkoi landGaguPastoral agricultureGreboGrebo landHopiAgriculturalHopi NationEggan, Fred, Social Organization of the Western Pueblos (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960)IbibioHorticulturalAkwa IbomIdomaHunter-gathererBenueIfugaoHorticulturalIfugaoIgboHorticulturalIgbolandEmmanuel C. Onyeozili and Obi N. I. Ebbe, “Social Control in Precolonial Igboland of Nigeria”, African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies (2012)IjawHorticulturalNiger DeltaInuitHunter-gathererArcticKissiSubsistence agricultureGuinea HighlandsKonkombaHorticulturalNorthern GhanaKruFishingGrand Kru CountyKusasiKasaug Traditional AreaLugbaraSubsistence agricultureWest NileMamprusiEast MamprusiManoHorticulturalNimba CountyMapuchePastoral agricultureAraucaníaMaragoliVihiga CountyMbutiHunter-gathererIturi RainforestNiitsitapiHunter-gathererBlackfeet NationNubianAgriculturalNubiaRobert Fernea, “Putting a Stone in the Middle: the Nubians of Northern Africa,” in Graham Kemp and Douglas P. Fry (eds.), Keeping the Peace: Conflict Resolution and Peaceful Societies around the World, New York: Routledge, 2004, p. 111.NuerPastoralismNuer Zone, GambelaPequot AgriculturalEastern Pequot Tribal NationWilliam A. Starna, “Pequots in the Early Seventeenth Century” in ed. Laurence M. Hauptman and James D. Wherry, The Pequots in Southern New England: The Fall and Rise of an American Indian Nation (Norman and London: University of Oakland Press, 1990), 42.PiaroaSubsistence agricultureOrinocoPuliklahHunter-gathererYurok Indian ReservationTallensiHorticulturalTallensi Traditional AreaPlateau TongaSubsistence agricultureBingaQuinnipiacHunter-gathererQuinnipiac RiverJohn Menta, The Quinnipiac: Cultural Conflict in Southern New England (New Haven: Yale University, 2003)SamiPastoralismSápmiSanHunter-gathererCentral KalahariSantalsAgriculturalJharkhandSemaiSubsistence agriculturePerakRobert K. Dentan, The Semai: A Nonviolent People of Malaya. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979SeminolesHunter-gatherer Seminole NationGreg Urban, “The Social Organizations of the Southeast,” in ed. Raymond J. Demallie and Alfonso Ortiz, North American Indian Anthropology: Essays on Society and Culture(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994), 175-178.ShonaSubsistence agricultureMashonalandTivHorticulturalTivlandUrhboSubsistence agricultureNiger DeltaZomia

See also

Stateless society Stateless nation Statelessness

References