Omar :
theses no such thing as a "fundamentally different structure of power", power, or decision decision making power can be structured by the principle of equality, where everyone affected by a decision has an equal say, or more hierarchically, where some people have more decision making power than others, you mention how men are delegates who "don't have any kind of autonomous power to make decisions" rather as representatives of a clan mothers will, so how exactly is that not about who's in charge?, second, a leader not having means of coercive control, is characteristic of tribal level societies regardless is they're male or female dominant, the anthropological term for such person is actually called "big man" named after the melansian leaders who aquire status by persuasion and generosity, hence why they're more democratic , which in the case of the iroquois for example, concensus is reached by each tribe through concensus agreement of the clan mothers who quite literally have veto power over most decisions, if someone has to make a compromise, and some people have more power to make decisions than others, can you really call it "concensus" furthermore, you contrast these tribal societies with stratified state societies, which is not a fair comparison, these are not apples and apples.
2026-06-23 12:08:26