Who coined the term acephalous societies?
Share
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
The term "acephalous societies" was coined by British social anthropologist E.E. Evans-Pritchard. He used this term in his seminal work "The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People," published in 1940. Evans-Pritchard conducted extensive ethnographic research among the Nuer people of southern Sudan in the 1930s, where he observed their social structure, kinship systems, and political organization. He coined the term "acephalous" to describe societies without centralized political authority or formal leadership structures, where power and decision-making are decentralized among kinship groups, age sets, and other social units. The concept of acephalous societies has since been widely used in anthropology and sociology to analyze non-state societies and their modes of governance.