| 释义 |
stateless societies stateless societies various forms of society which lack a clearly identifiable STATE. Two main senses in which societies may be said to be 'stateless’ can be noted: - all forms of society which existed prior to the formation of the first central states (see PRISTINE STATES);
- those forms of society which as well as lacking the kind of clearly identified machinery of statehood (e.g. ‘administrative’ and military support for the leader) also seem to lack all formalized provision for stable leadership – so-called ACEPHALOUS (literally ‘headless’) societies. These forms of society are able to achieve coherence, sustain existence, even conduct warfare, without clearly differentiated state forms either because they are small enough to require no differentiated machinery or because they possess a complex 'segmentary structure’. see SEGMENTARY SOCIETIES. Compare SEGMENTARY STATES.
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