Keeping People on the Periphery: The Ideology of Social Hierarchies between Hunters and Herders

Social hierarchies comprise different levels of consciousness, each of which is mediated by the other. The social condition of low status, while ideologically ‘‘fixed,’’ exists only with reference to those above, so neither is independent from the other. Between ethnic groups, especially across the mode of production divide, such as hunters and herders, hunters are often on the periphery of herding society. If they accept the ‘‘coin’’ of pastoralism, i.e., become clients, not only do they serve important functions necessary for the success of pastoral life, but they ideologically accept their position as dependent. Taking examples from Africa and Arabia, this paper attempts to show the almost universal condition of the marginalization of non-stock holders on the periphery of herding society and suggests that the same conditions would have been manifest in the prehistoric period. © 1998 Academic Press