To begin with, let us consider the main features characteristic of power in a tribal community. Firstly, we're talking about about power, which is of a public nature. It comes from the whole society as a whole. For example, this is manifested in the fact that important matters were decided by society through clan meetings.

Secondly, we are talking about power, which is built on the principle of consanguinity. In other words, it applies to all members of the tribal community, regardless of where they are located.

Thirdly, power is not an apparatus that controls or coerces. Since the functions imposed by the authorities are performed as an honorable duty. At the same time, none of the elders and leaders is exempt from labor related to production. They must simultaneously perform both management and production functions. This meant that the power structure was not separate from society.

Fourthly, in order to occupy any position, for example, to become a leader or elder, it was not necessary to differ in social or economic basis. Power was based entirely on the qualities of the future leader. This refers to authority, wisdom, courage, experience, respect of fellow tribesmen.

Fifthly, the fact that a person performed managerial functions did not give any privileges.

Sixthly, the social system is regulated using special means, we are talking about mononorms.

Based on these features, it can be noted that in primitive society power is not at all homogeneous. So the head of the group was the father or patriarch, who was the eldest among the rest of the relatives, both his and the following generations. Although the patriarch performs managerial functions, he is not the owner or master of the group's property. It still remains collective or general.

True, the leader has the rights of a manager, since he occupies the position of senior, being the head of the household, as well as the life of the group as a whole. It is he who decides how much to allocate for food consumption and to whom to give it, as well as what to leave in reserve. If there is a surplus, then it depends on him how it can be disposed of. After all, their use closely depends on the relationships in the community as a whole.

Thus, a family unit, being part of a community, can occupy only specific place, which depends on various factors. They can be both objective and subjective.

At the same time, there is no problem in resources, since there is enough land for everyone, and other lands too. But plots are distributed taking into account social justice, often using lots. For example, the land of Canaan, which the Israelites captured, was divided among the tribes by lot.

As for subjective factors, they are acutely felt in the local group, becoming more noticeable in the community. Since there are groups that are larger and more efficient than others, and their leaders are smarter and more experienced than others, which affects the results.

Larger and more prosperous groups emerge while others remain weak. If luck does not smile, then the number of children in groups decreases, since there are fewer women among them. There is an inequality between them. But it is not associated with starvation, since the community has the function of exchange, which plays the role of insurance.

The men of the community strive to obtain the highest prestigious position, such as becoming an elder or a member of the council. This is how they increase their status and rank. But to reach such a peak, it was necessary to act as in a local group, that is, generously distribute surplus food. True, in a local group the leader gives away what he got himself. While in a community he has the right to what the entire group has obtained.

It turns out that the elder can dispose of what the community has as he wishes. To do this, a man must have great authority in the group. Since the elder becomes higher than others in the community, this is how power is manifested.

The social structure, power and management in primitive society are associated mainly with the period of mature society. Since when a period of decay begins, the power in the primitive communal system undergoes changes.

A mature primitive society has two main groups of people. We are talking about clan and tribe. All the nations of the world managed to pass through them. Therefore, the primitive communal system is often called the tribal organization of society.

A clan community can be called the first form of unification of people. This family-production union had consanguinity, collective labor, joint consumption, common property and social equality. But this was not a family. This is precisely an association of people who are connected by ties of relatives.

Later, a tribe appeared that was based on family ties. It differs from others in its territory, name, language, general religious and everyday rituals. People united in tribes to hunt, defend, and attack together.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Federal Agency for Education
State educational institution of higher education
vocational education
"National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics."

Institute of International Business and Law.

Essay
discipline: "Jurisprudence"
on the topic of: " Public power in primitive society."

Completed by a 3rd year IMBiP student
full-time education
Gridasova K., group 3444
Checked___________ _______________
Grade_______________ ____________
Signature______________ _____________
"____" _____________________ 2011

Saint Petersburg
2011
Table of contents
Introduction 3
Chapter 1. Public (public) power in primitive society 5
Chapter 1.1. The main reasons for the origin of state and law 7
Chapter 2. Basic theories of the origin of state and law 8
Chapter 2.2. The difference between a state and a tribal organization 11
Conclusion 14
List of used literature 15

Introduction

Knowledge of the state and law should begin with the question of the origin of the state - is it always in history human society this social institution existed or it appeared at a certain stage in the development of society. Only such a methodological approach, implementing the principle of historicism, makes it possible to understand the reasons and forms of the emergence of the state, its characteristic, essential features, and the difference from previous organizational forms of social life.
That is why we have to start with characterizing the aspects of primitive society, using data from archeology and ethnography that directly study this society.
Currently, thanks to the successes of archeology and ethnography, knowledge about primitive society, the stages and trends of its development has been significantly enriched. If in the 19th – early 20th centuries historical knowledge about social development covered a period of approximately 3 thousand years, and everything that happened before was defined as prehistory (due to the lack of written and other reliable sources), but now, by the end of the 20th century, the history of many regions dates back 10-12 thousand years, there is completely reliable knowledge about this historical range in the life of mankind.
In addition, if the 19th – early 20th centuries were characterized mainly by a Euro-centric view of history, i.e. knowledge of the history of Europe and some adjacent regions was used, and then this knowledge was artificially spread to the rest of the world, then in the 20th century the history of all regions was involved in the orbit of scientific understanding globe. The theory of state and law thus becomes a truly logical generalization of the history of the planetary state and legal development of society.
In this new understanding of primitive society, one should first of all highlight the knowledge that characterizes the development of this society and the periodization of primitive history. In other words, we are talking about the fact that this society itself was never static, it developed and went through various stages. There are several types of such periodization - general historical, archaeological, anthropological. Of particular methodological value for the theory of state and law is periodization, based on new archaeological data and highlighting the “Neolithic revolution” (from “Neolithic” - new Stone Age) as one of the main milestones in the development of primitive society.
This concept was introduced into historical science by the English archaeologist G. Child in the middle of the 20th century, characterizing the fundamental qualitative revolution that occurred in all spheres of human life during the transition in the Neolithic (approximately 7th-3rd millennium BC) from appropriating to producing economy, i.e. from hunting, fishing and gathering to agriculture, cattle breeding, metallurgy and metalworking, ceramic production. This transition began in various regions of the globe (Middle East, Mesoamerica, Mountain Peru, etc.) approximately 10–12 thousand years ago and took several millennia.
Since this transition changed the entire material basis of life in primitive society, its social and spiritual organization, it is rightly designated as a revolution, albeit one that lasted for several millennia.
This periodization makes it possible to clearly indicate what kind of primitive society we are talking about, in what time frame it existed, what was the social and spiritual organization of society, what forms of reproduction and existence were used by humanity. For the theory of state and law, it finally becomes possible to clearly determine which forms of organization of power and socio-regulatory systems functioned in societies of the appropriating economy, and which in societies of the producing economy.
Indeed, for a long time, our ancestor - Cro-Magnon man (his appearance dates back to 40 thousand years ago) was engaged in hunting, fishing, collecting fruits and plant roots, i.e. was engaged in the appropriation of ready-made animal and plant forms. To do this, he used flint, bone and some other tools, which he also made from ready-made natural materials (flint nodules, bones, wood), i.e. was engaged in weapon activities.
The social organization of the Cro-Magnons was characterized by a family community (small local group, clan), which was led by its members - the most authoritative and experienced food providers, experts in customs and rituals. The family community was based on kinship relationships, which, as a rule, united several generations: parents, young men and women, children. Their relatively nomadic way of life in a certain territory was also characteristic.
Family communities could unite, but only on a kinship basis, into larger formations for protection from attacks, for organizing military campaigns, and collective hunts. Because at the core social organization Primitive society was based on family relations, to the extent that this organization is defined as a tribal system.
In this society there was a strictly fixed system of gender and age division of labor, food distribution, and marriage and family relations. The latter varied depending on the ratio of men and women, their age, and established forms of marriage - from monogamous to harem forms of families.
Of course, such an organization also knew the institutions of power: the power of the leader, the council of elders. Moreover, there was election, rotation of leaders, leaders, and the council of elders. The form of power in a primitive society is called, in contrast to power in a state-organized society, potestar (from the Latin “potestas” - power, power).
For example, the potestar power of the leader of a family community was based not only on his authority, but also on the possibility of harsh coercion. A violator of the established rules of behavior could be severely punished, including deprivation of life.
Such a society also knew various organizational forms of dispute resolution - competitions between the disputants themselves, when the winner was considered to have won the dispute, a court of relatives, mediators, a leader, a council of elders.
In a word, such a social organization of primitive society reproduced the appropriating economy for thousands of years, ensured the harmonious interaction of man and nature, was the first way of existence of human society, different from all subsequent ones, and fully met its needs.

Chapter 1. Public (public) power in primitive society

The social structure of a mature primitive society is characterized by two main forms of unification of people - clan and tribe. Almost all the peoples of the world went through these forms, in connection with which the primitive communal system is often called the tribal organization of society.
The main unit of primitive society was the clan. It arose as a result of a long evolution that took place in the previous period. People who lived in the “primitive herd”, under the influence of labor, increasingly acquired the features of a “social person.”
Common ownership of land, tools and consumer goods, and pronounced egalitarianism determined relationships between relatives in which the interests of the collective prevailed. All members of the clan are free people, bound by blood ties. Their relationship was built on the basis of mutual assistance and brotherhood; no one had any advantages over others. The clan, as the original unit of human society, was a universal organization characteristic of all peoples.
Due to the division of people into different categories in a primitive community, mainly based on gender and age, there is such a phenomenon as organization of power. The economic relations of the clan system corresponded to the organization of public power and the system of managing the affairs of the clan. The bearer of power was the entire society. She was not separated from society, but coincided with it, belonged to it.
In the early primitive community, the principle of democracy operated, in which the collective will of relatives or community members was of decisive importance. At the same time, naturally, mature, experienced people, very often the older generation of the group, had special authority.
The community and clan were governed on the basis of not only the free will of their adult members, which changed from time to time, but also the council of elders and leaders.
The main body of both power and management was, as is commonly believed, the clan assembly, which consisted of all adult members of the clan. It resolved all the most important issues in the life of the tribal community. All important issues of social life, industrial activity, war, religious ceremonies, resolution of disputes between individuals, etc. were decided by a meeting (council) of all adult members of the clan, men and women.
This assembly, which arose along with the clan, was the highest authority in it. To directly manage affairs, the assembly elected elders (leaders) and military leaders (military leaders), who did not have any material advantages, worked along with everyone else and enjoyed only moral authority. These persons could be removed by the assembly at any time; they carried out their functions under the control of the clan.
The decisions of the meeting were absolutely binding for everyone and were perceived as an expression of the general will.
In the tribe, the organization of power and management was approximately the same as in the clan community. The main body of power and administration here, as a rule, was the council of elders (leaders), although along with it there could also be a popular assembly (meeting of the tribe). The council of elders included elders, chiefs, military leaders and other representatives of the clans that make up the tribe. The Council of Elders decided all the main issues of the life of the tribe with the broad participation of the people. To resolve current issues, as well as during military campaigns, a tribal leader was elected, whose position was practically no different from the position of an elder or leader of the clan. Like the elder, the leader of the tribe did not have any privileges and was considered only the first among equals.
Public power under the primitive system was very authoritative, quite real, capable of effectively leading the community. She, of course, had the power of coercion in relation to those who violated the order, but did not have any special bodies that carried out coercive measures. If there was a need to resolve cases related to violations of certain customs, moral or religious institutions (cases of treason, cowardice, incest, etc.), then this was dealt with by the meeting itself, i.e. the whole family And it was here that a decision was made to punish the offender, to whom measures such as censure, reproach, reprimand, and expulsion from the clan could be applied.
In principle, the clan was a completely independent social community. However, the need for a dual organization, resulting from exogamy, determined constant communication with another clan. On this basis, a union of clans was formed, called the “phratry”. As society developed, several phratries united into a tribe.
The organization of power in the phratry was based on the same principles as in the clan community. However, in a number of cases, the phratry council, which exercised power functions, was not a general meeting of all its members, but was formed from the elders of the clans that were part of the phratry.
In the tribe, public power was exercised by a tribal council, which included representatives of the phratries, elders, military leaders, and priests.
Clans, phratries, tribes, tribal unions, being various forms public association primitive people, at the same time, differed little from each other. Each of them is just a larger, and therefore more complex form compared to the previous one. But they were all the same type of associations of people, based on blood or presumed kinship.
The forms of organization of power discussed above in primitive society give every reason to say that this power acted as self-government, primitive democracy. This character was determined by the economic system, the basis of which was collective ownership of the means of production, which determined the social equality of all members of society.
In primitive society there were certain, mandatory, socially protected rules of behavior and social norms. These norms - the rules of division of labor, cooperation, distribution, mutual protection - corresponded to the vital interests of the team and, as a rule, were strictly observed. These included mainly customs that played a very important role in regulating production processes, everyday life, family and other social relations. Finally, they were fixed ideologically - by religious precepts and myths.
The social norms of primitive society, like the power that existed there, were a product of historical conditions that did not know the relationship of domination and enslavement. Social norms expressed the will of all members of the clan, due to which, as a rule, they were fulfilled voluntarily. There was no distinction between rights and duties: a right was perceived as a duty, and a duty as a right. Blood feud or, more importantly, collective labor, hunting, etc. were also a right and a duty. Strict adherence to norms was a habit. If the existing rules were violated by individuals, then coercive measures came, as already mentioned, from the entire clan as a whole.

Chapter 1.1. The main reasons for the origin of state and law

In the process of the long but steady development of primitive society, preconditions for its qualitative transformation. As the tools of labor improved, people acquired more and more new production skills, labor productivity, culture, and morality increased, and the interests of members of society became more diverse and contradictory.
An important role in the transition from primitive to a qualitatively new method of production played social division of labor, which replaced the natural division of labor functions between men and women. The first major social division of labor was the separation of cattle breeding from agriculture. Then crafts separated from agriculture. Later, a group of people involved in the exchange of goods - merchants - became isolated.
Social division of labor and related improvement of tools gave impetus to the growth of labor productivity. Under these conditions, man began to produce more quantity of product than was necessary to maintain his own life. As a result, a surplus product appeared, which ultimately led to the emergence of private property.
In such economic conditions, the tribal organization of power turned out to be powerless. It was not equipped to manage the affairs of a society in which the interests of individuals had become incompatible. Therefore, another government body was required that could ensure the advantage of the interests of some members of society at the expense of others. Coordination of social relations in such conditions loses its balance. Society, due to its split into economically unequal groups (classes) of people, objectively gives rise to an organization of power that should, on the one hand, support the interests of the propertied, and on the other, restrain the confrontation between them and the economically dependent part of society. Such an organization, separated from society, became state. Based on many years of research by Lewis Morgan, F. Engels wrote that thanks to the state, the economically dominant class also becomes the politically dominant class.
State- this is a special social organization, which, unlike the organization of power in primitive society, consists of special bodies constantly involved in the management of public affairs. The first form of state-organized society was slave society, which was mainly divided into slaves and slave owners. The irreconcilability of their interests was ensured, restrained and coordinated by the slave state. Its structure and content of activities corresponded to the level of development of society itself.
Reasons for the emergence of the state:
1. transition from an appropriating economy to a producing economy;
2. division of labor: the separation of cattle breeding, the separation of crafts from agriculture, the emergence of a special class of people - merchants;
3. the emergence of a surplus product, which entailed the property stratification of society;
4. the emergence of private ownership of tools and products of labor, which led to the social and class stratification of society.
Generally reasons for the emergence of law similar to the reasons that gave rise to the state. Law arises together with the state and is inextricably linked with it. It is the result of his activities under the prevailing economic and class conditions. The emergence of law is a natural consequence of the complication of social relationships, the deepening and aggravation of social contradictions and conflicts. Law, performing general social functions, played the role of a normative class regulator (it regulated in the interests of the economically dominant class), for example, the principle of talion. Specialized organs appear.
Emergence of law was caused by the need for social regulation of relations between members of society.
Regarding the time and order of emergence of rights, there are different points of view:
1. the emergence of law occurred for some identical reasons and simultaneously with the emergence of the state;
2. law and state are different phenomena public life, therefore, the reasons for their occurrence cannot be the same, and law in the form of norms of behavior arises earlier than the state.
The emergence of law like the emergence of the state, it occurred in the process of long-term development of society.

Chapter 2. Basic theories of the origin of state and law

There have always been and still are many different theories in the world that explain the process of the emergence and development of state and law. This is quite natural and understandable, because each of them reflects different views and judgments of different groups, strata, nations and other social communities on a given process, or - views and judgments of the same social community on different aspects this process of emergence and development of state and law.
Economic theory (or materialist)
He asserts, first of all, that the state arose due to economic reasons: social division of labor, the emergence of surplus product and private property, and then the split of society into classes with opposing economic interests. The state is seen as a means of suppressing some classes (the have-nots) by others (the haves). Society, due to its split into economically unequal classes, objectively gives rise to an organization of power that should support the interests of the haves and restrain the confrontation of the have-nots.
The essence of materialist theory is that the state arises as a result of the split of society into classes. It follows that the state is a temporary phenomenon; with the disappearance of classes it must die out. Despite many controversial issues This theory, its undoubted merit is proof of the outstanding importance of economic factors. But she underestimated other factors - psychological, moral, ethnic, etc.
Natural law theory
The basis of this theory is the proposition that the state was preceded by the natural state of man.
Supporters of natural law consider the state to be the result of a social contract, which is an expression of the rational will of the people. In this theory, the state appears as an artificial product of the will of people who agreed to limit their freedom for the sake of better ensuring order. Despite the fact that the scientific nature of this theory is assessed ambiguously, some aspects of it have found real embodiment in the practice of state building. For example, the United States enshrined in its constitution a treaty between its constituent nations and defined the purposes of the treaty: the establishment of justice, the preservation of peace, the organization of defense, and the promotion of general welfare. The Russian Federation was also formed on the basis of an agreement between the constituent entities of the federation.
Organic theory. Ideas about the state as a similarity to the human body arose in ancient times. Plato compared the structure and functions of the state with the abilities and aspects of the human soul. Aristotle believed that it resembles a living human organism: just as arms and legs cannot function separately from a person, so a person cannot exist separately from the state. State power is the dominance of the whole over its constituent parts. This theory is also not without rational grain - it introduces systemic features of the state. Its supporters consider the state complex unified system consisting of interacting and interdependent elements.
Theory of violence
Its representatives believed that the state arises as a result of violence and conquest. Its meaning was theoretically substantiated in the 19th and 20th centuries. - the emergence of private property, classes and the state is the result of internal and external violence. The state continues to be an organ of oppression where legal differences between the victors and the vanquished have not been erased.
According to this theory, a state is formed as a result of the conquest of a weaker tribe by a strong tribe. State power arises from physical strength: the dominance of a tribe, based initially on physical dominance over other tribes, gradually turns into a state of a class based on the economic power of the latter. This theory cannot be completely rejected based on historical experience, which confirms that the conquest of some peoples by others was a real fact of the existence of statehood (for example, the Golden Horde).
Psychological theory
Its supporters define the state as the sum of the psychological interactions of people and their various associations. The essence of this theory is that the psychological need of a person to live within an organized community is the reason for the emergence of the state. And the state is a consequence of the psychological laws of human development.
Patriarchal theory
It originates in Ancient Greece. Aristotle is considered its founder. Among the notable supporters of this theory are the Englishman Fillmore (XVII century) and the Russian researcher, statesman Mikhailovsky (XIX century).
Patriarchal theory assumes that the state comes from the family. It is the result of family growth.
The state, according to Aristotle, is not only a product of natural development, but also the highest form of human communication. It covers all other forms of communication (family, village). In it, the latter achieve their ultimate goal - “the good of life” - and completion. The political nature of man also finds its completion in it.
State power, according to supporters of the patriarchal theory, is nothing more than a continuation of paternal power. The power of the sovereign, the monarch, is the patriarchal power of the head of the family. Patriarchal theory served in the Middle Ages as a justification for the absolute (“paternal”) power of the monarch. From the patriarchal theory comes the conclusion that all people need to submit to government authority.
The theory of contractual origin of the state
Explains the origin of the state by a social contract - the result of the reasonable will of the people, on the basis of which a voluntary unification of people took place to better ensure freedom and mutual interests. Certain provisions of this theory developed in the 5th - 4th centuries BC. e. Sophists in Ancient Greece.
Early bourgeois enlighteners of the 17th - 18th centuries. (Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Hugo Grotius, etc.) argued that the state arose as a result agreement or agreements people among themselves. Before the formation of the state, which did not exist from eternity, people lived in a primitive, so-called natural state, which was presented in different ways.

Family descent theory
The theory of the family origin of the state seeks the roots of the state in the family and seeks to determine the moment of transition from the family system to the state system. Being the original form of organized communication, the family, through natural reproduction, becomes a clan, as a union of persons united by descent from a common ancestor and subordination to his authority. In turn, the clan, due to economic conditions, split into several independent clans, takes the form of a tribe, as a union of persons united by a legend about a common origin. The tribe becomes a nationality as a union of individuals united by a common historical past. In this series of social unions, the moment of transition to statehood is when the sense of consanguinity is lost and power is created, deprived of a family basis.
etc.................

As a result of mastering this topic, the student must:

know

• – concept and stages of development of primitive society;
• – basic patterns of the emergence and development of state and law;
• – features of power in primitive society;
• – nature and purpose social norms primitive society;
• – the main ways of forming law;
• – characteristics of the main theories of the origin of state and law;

be able to

• – determine the type of social norms of primitive society;
• – highlight the features of law that distinguish it from the social norms of primitive society;
• – distinguish between the positions of scientists on the issue of the origin of state and law;
• – independently determine the advantages and disadvantages of the main theories of the origin of state and law;

own

• – skills of independent analysis of state-legal phenomena in the field of the origin of state and law;
• – skills in operating basic concepts and categories on this topic.

Social power in primitive society

According to modern scientific ideas Planet Earth was formed about 4.7 billion years ago from gas and dust matter scattered in the protosolar system. About 3–3.5 billion years ago, as a result of the natural evolution of matter, life arose on Earth and the development of the biosphere began. Human (homo habilis - skillful man) fiddling

to on Earth as a result of a complex and long historical and evolutionary process about 2 million years ago. Human modern look (homo sapiens - Homo sapiens) appeared no later than 40 thousand years ago, and according to some data, even earlier. The first states on the planet began to emerge relatively recently. So, in Ancient Egypt it arose at the end of IV - beginning of III thousand BC, in China - in the 2nd millennium BC, in the territory of present-day Russia - just over one thousand years ago. In a number of countries in Africa and Latin America, states arose in the 19th – early 20th centuries.

Thus, in the history of mankind there was a fairly long period when it existed and developed without a state and without law. In science this period is called primitive society - the first form of human life in human history, spanning the era from the appearance of the first people to the emergence of the state and law.

Man and human society were formed and separated from the kingdom of nature through labor and joint economic activity.

What are the characteristics of a person?

First of all, enough high level consciousness. Not just consciousness, since scientists have proven that animals also have some kind of consciousness. The level of human consciousness is much higher than that of animals, its evolution has a progressive, vertical orientation, and the consciousness of animals does not develop above a certain level.

Secondly, man, unlike animals, has the ability to create tools and use them. If animals produce changes in nature due to their presence in it, then man puts something indirect between himself and nature, namely tools. At the same time, he influences nature purposefully, consciously.

Thirdly, a person has a certain psychophysical constitution (structure, shape of the skeleton, has speech, etc.).

Fourthly, a person has a high degree of organization. Joint life activity, collective work presupposes the cooperation of people and thereby at least an elementary division of labor actions between its participants.

In the history of the development of primitive society there are three main stages :

• – primitive herd;
• – clan community;
• - decomposition of the tribal community.

For a significant time in their history, people existed in the conditions of a primitive herd. This was the period of the so-called appropriating economy (hunting, fishing, gathering). The tools were very primitive (stones and sticks), but their very presence raised man above the animal world. Power during this period was not much different from the power that exists in a herd of animals.

Gradually, as tools improved (in the evolution of man of this period we can distinguish stone Age, Bronze Age and iron age), with the discovery of methods for artificially producing fire, a more extensive and more firmly organized association of people, a clan, appeared than the primitive herd.

Genus - a historically established community of people based on blood kinship, having common property and leading a joint household.

The appropriating economy is gradually being replaced by the producing economy. In science, this period is called the “Neolithic Revolution.” Man begins to engage not only in hunting, fishing and gathering, but also in cattle breeding, agriculture and crafts. Promiscuous sexual relations were replaced by group marriage. However, given that it was almost impossible to establish the real father in such a relationship, the relationship was exclusively through the female line.

At a certain stage in the development of society, a natural division of labor occurred between men and women.

In the increasingly complex household, women began to occupy a dominant position. They played a leading role in such types of production activities as gathering and early hoeing agriculture. All this led to the promotion of women to first place in the clan community.

Dominance of the maternal family (matriarchy - from lat. mater - mother and Greek arche – beginning, power; literally the power of the mother) lasted several millennia.

Under matriarchy, kinship was counted through the mother's line (maternal clan), and the husband moved to live in his wife's ancestral settlement.

As a result of the development of cattle breeding, plow farming, metalworking, increasing the efficiency and importance of male labor, matriarchy is being replaced by patriarchy (from Greek pater father and arche - beginning, power) characterized by patrilineal (patriarchal) clan, in which the origin of kinship is through the male line and the man occupies a dominant position in production and in society.

This was a qualitatively new stage in the development of human society. The group marriage is being replaced by a pair marriage, which places a reliable natural father next to the natural mother. In the future, paired marriage is replaced by marriage with male dominance, prohibiting extramarital affairs for women. This is how it appeared patriarchal family community which is characteristic of the final stage of the tribal system.

The stage of decomposition of the clan community precedes the emergence of the state and law and is characterized by the destruction of intraclan ties and the emergence of future state and legal institutions.

The distinctive features of the power of the clan community were the following.

Firstly, the source of power was the entire clan community as a whole. This was a period of so-called direct rule, when people directly exercised full power. It is clear that in relation to that period it is impossible to talk about the existence of legislative, executive and judicial powers in their modern understanding, but members of the clan community themselves established rules of behavior for themselves, ensured their implementation and themselves brought violators of the established order to justice.

Secondly, the highest authority was the general meeting (council) of all adult members of the clan. The council decided all the most important issues in the life of the community, relating to production activities, religious rituals, resolution of disputes between individual clans, etc.

Thirdly, the day-to-day management of the affairs of the clan community was carried out by an elder, usually elected at a meeting by all members of the clan, both men and women. His power was not hereditary.

At any moment, the elder could be replaced by another member of the clan.

It is fundamentally important to emphasize that the elders and other “officials” of the clan (military leaders) participated in the production activities of the clan community on an equal basis with its other members. In the future, when considering the characteristics of a state, this circumstance will need to be remembered, since state officials, unlike elders, are exclusively engaged in management and take absolutely no part in the production activities of society.

Fourthly, power in primitive society was based on authority, respect, and customs. Coercion (sometimes quite severe) was applied to those who violated the order, but there were no special (law enforcement, punitive) bodies for this.

The compulsion came from the entire family. This is also an important circumstance, since state power carries out coercion with the help of special law enforcement agencies.

Fifthly, in social associations broader than the clan (for example, in Greece - phratries, in Russia - tribe) power was based on the same principles as in the clan community.

Thus, power during the period of clan organization of society was built on the principles primitive democracy, There were no special bodies dealing exclusively with management at that time. However, in place of primitive democracy due to various reasons inevitably comes the state, which represents a special form of organizing people’s life.

MINSK INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

“I admit to defense”

civil and state ____________________Lebedev A.F.

"__"______________________2008

COURSE WORK

by discipline: " General theory rights"

on the topic : « Power and social norms in primitive society»

Student of group No. 70201

Head Assoc. Departments Gr. and state rights _______A.F. Lebedev

Ph.D., Associate Professor

PLAN .

Introduction

Considering primitive society, social management (power) and normative regulation in it, different researchers adhere to different concepts on this issue. In this course work, I will try to trace the evolution of views on this topic and will try to extensively cover the problems associated with the study of this period in the life of human society. In the introduction, I would like to highlight the main points of the development and formation of primitive society, give a general description and define the basic concepts and definitions.

Primitive society represents the pre-state stage of human history. Recent archaeological research suggests that Homo sapiens formed as a species about 200 thousand years ago. It is from this moment that we can talk about the history of primitive society.

Periods of development of primitive society:

1) early period(era of the ancestral community).

On at this stage the remnants of the animal state are overcome, biological development is completed, and social development begins. During this period, people lived in small related groups of 20-30 people and led a nomadic lifestyle. The main way to maintain material existence is hunting and gathering. Primitive tools.

2) the middle period (the era of the tribal community).

Gradual consolidation of society, formation of tribal communities. A tribal community is a social formation based on consanguineous ties, in which each member of the community performs a certain social function for the benefit of the entire community. A clan community is a group of relatives.

The clan community is characterized by gender and age specialization of labor. There is a transition from polygamy to exogamy (a ban on marriage within the clan), a ban on incest. The emergence of inter-tribal connections and related clans, united in tribes, phratia.

3) late period(era of the neighborhood community)

There is a further complication of social life. The emergence of new forms of management (agriculture, cattle breeding, crafts). The prerequisites for the emergence of a state are being formed.

The transition to new forms of economic management - the emergence of agriculture, cattle breeding, and later crafts (three social divisions of labor). Formation of the rudiments of a producing economy. Transition to monogamy (the appearance of a family). Exchange relations and the beginnings of trade appear.

Governance bodies of the primitive community:

- a meeting of adult members of the clan (usually warriors)

- the leader (head of the clan) was elected at a clan meeting

- elders

- military leader

The gender-age division of labor assumes that each adult member of the community performed a certain socially useful function. This determined the well-known democracy of power relations.

In the era of the neighboring community, power acquires new characteristics, partly similar to state power.

A form of power appears as chiefdom.

Chiefdom is a type of social organization consisting of a group of communal settlements, hierarchically subordinate to the central, larger one, in which the ruler (leader) lives.

Difference from military democracy:

1) the people are removed from direct control. The leader and his entourage organize the economic, distribution, judicial and religious activities of the society.

2) The hierarchy of settlements and clans (vertical subordination) is more clearly visible.

3) The emergence of the beginnings of a managerial apparatus and bureaucracy.

4) The tendency towards sacralization (deification) of the leader’s personality.

Already in primitive society, social norms regulating the behavior of community members began to form. These norms were characterized by the following features:

1) static social norms, their stability over a long period of time.

The constancy of social norms of primitive society is associated with the stability of social relations.

2) lack of differentiation of social norms.

The norms performed not only a regulatory, but also an evaluative function, and also had a sacred character. The norms of primitive society seemed to be at the same time customs, moral norms, and religious norms.

3) lack of written recording.

The oral nature of norms that were passed down from generation to generation, thereby maintaining continuity.

4) expressed public interest.

The norms of primitive society regulated mainly three circles of social relations:

1) relations within the clan, between the clan and the individual (relations of power, distribution of responsibilities, etc.)

2) inter-tribal relations (marriage and family, tribal unions, mutual assistance, etc.)

3) environmental relations(human actions in relation to nature). The totem system was consolidated. A totem is an idealized creature, the patron of a family, usually an animal.

The predominant methods of regulation are prohibition and permission. Obligation is in its infancy.

Among the prohibitions, TABOO prevailed.

Taboo is a prohibition supported by the fear of punishment by otherworldly forces, a sacred prohibition (murder, incest, cannibalism, etc.)

Forms of consolidating the norms of primitive society:

A) ritual is a rule of behavior in which the external form of performing certain actions contributes to the general mood for performing joint activities.

B) ritual is a rule of behavior consisting of symbolic actions that penetrate deeply into the psyche specific person and pursuing ideological (educational) goals (for example, a rite of passage).

C) myth - a legend, a legend about Gods, spirits, heroes, ancestors, explaining the existing world order and recommending certain behavior.

D) custom - a rule of behavior that has developed historically over the course of several generations, which has become universal and obligatory as a result of repeated repetition.

D) moral standards.

Chapter 1 . Characteristics of development scientific knowledge about primitive society and its periodization.

The science of primitive society arose in the second half of the 19th century, although attempts to penetrate into the distant past of man were made back in the era of ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The thinkers of this period carried out knowledge of the surrounding world in general and the archaic era of human society in particular within the framework of the then unified universal science - philosophy. For example, the Greek philosopher Democritus (5th century BC) said that people separated themselves from the animal kingdom. The need to get food for themselves and shelter from bad weather forced people to improve ways of fighting nature for their survival. Democritus reconstructed the picture of the primitive state of people based on an analysis of the life of the “barbarian” tribes contemporary to him (Term "barbarian" comes from Greek barbaros. This is how the ancient Greeks, and then the Romans, called all foreigners who spoke a language incomprehensible to them.) . The greatest Roman philosopher Lucretia Car (1st century BC) in her work “On the Nature of Things” criticizes myths and legends about the “divine nature of things” and argues that from stone tools man moved to copper and bronze, and then - to the iron ones. Lucretius

denies the immortality of the soul and the intervention of the gods in the development of the Universe.

However, the worldview of ancient thinkers was limited. They all agreed on the eternity of the system of slavery: everyone who is not Greek or Roman is barbarians, “slaves by nature.” In the ancient era, there was also an accumulation of specific ethnographic knowledge. Material of great value is contained in the piles of ancient authors (Herodotus, Strabo, Caesar, Tacitus, etc.). They, living in a slave-owning society, were struck by the lack of private property among a number of “barbarian” peoples, democracy, gentle treatment of slaves, determination of kinship through the female line, and the use of meager food and clothing. Ancient authors also conveyed other important sketches of the customs, life and social life of the “barbarian” tribes.

In the Middle Ages, despite the fact that science was put at the service of theology, rational ethnographic knowledge about the inhabitants of the Earth gradually accumulated. We find useful information in Chinese and European chronicles, in reports of Western and Central Asian travelers of the 9th-15th centuries. Great importance have data from an Arab geographer and traveler of the 10th century. Ion-Fadlana, who visited East Africa, India, China, Java, Iraq, Syria, Eastern Europe. And for modern researchers, the descriptions left by Ion-Fadlan of the socio-political life of the states of the Caucasus, Crimea, Khazar and Bulgar kingdoms are of exceptional value.

Important information is contained in the ancient Slavic “Tale of Bygone Years” (early 12th century), which gives a specific description of the peoples who lived on the East European Plain.

From the end of the 15th century. The era of geographical discoveries begins, which is a new stage in the accumulation of factual material about the life of people on Earth. Traveling around the world and the penetration of Europeans into the interior of the continents provided extensive material about the primitive state of the inhabitants of the Pacific Islands, America, Africa, Australia, etc.

With the accumulation of ethnographic material in modern times, the first works appear that recreate a picture of the life of people in the past. Among progressive Western European scientists of the first half of the 18th century. one should mention J. Lafitau, who wrote the work “The Customs of American Savages in Comparison with the Customs of Ancient Times” (1724). Lafitau, using the specific historical material available to him, gave a scientific description of the tribal system of the North American Iroquois and Hurons, noting their dominance of women. By comparative analysis Based on knowledge about the life activities of these tribes, the scientist came to the conclusion that matriarchy was widespread among primitive people. But this unique work by Lafitau in the 18th century. was almost the only one.

In the 18th century The science of the history of primitive society began to develop in Russia. After the creation of the Academy of Sciences in Russian Empire A number of ethnographic expeditions are organized. The works of S.P. Krasheninnikov on the population of Kamchatka are of great value. His book “Description of the Land of Kamchatka” (1755) contains a realistic description of the life of the Itelmens. Krasheninnikov's work is the most important source on the material production, culture and history of the Kamchadals. She was highly appreciated by her contemporaries, in particular M.V. Lomonosov.

In 1775, a monograph by the famous lawyer and sociologist, professor of law at Moscow University S.E. Desnitsky, “A Tale on the Origin and Establishment of Marriage among the Primitive,” was published. In his work, the scientist closely linked the development of the family with the origin and development of property, which was a hundred years ahead of Western and American science.

Great importance was attached to the collection and study of ethnographic material by advanced Russian scientists of the 19th century, united in the Russian Geographical Society (K.M. Beer, P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, N.M. Przhevalsky, N.N. Miklouho-Maclay and etc.). They collected material not only on the territory of the Russian Empire, but also abroad.

Along with the accumulation of ethnographic material, there was a gradual development of archaeological research, which played a huge role in the formation of the history of primitive society as a science.

In 1836, the Danish archaeologist H. Thomsen divided the entire primitive “preliterate” era into three periods, taking as a basis natural materials: stone, bronze, iron, from which tools were made. The division of primitive history into the Stone, Bronze and Iron periods was done before Thomsen, but these were guesses and assumptions (Lucretius Carus and others). Thomsen's merit lies in the fact that he proved the correctness of this hypothesis with extensive archaeological material. Another Danish archaeologist J. Worso expanded the Thomsen system and also discovered new way, which makes it possible to determine the relative chronology of the objects found in the burials based on the burial ritual. Thanks to the practical and historical research of Thomsen and Worso, archeology becomes a scientific discipline.

A follower of Charles Darwin, the French scientist G. Mortilier divided the Stone Age according to the type of tools (from simple to complex) into several periods (types of cultures), gave them names according to the place of finds (“Chelle”, “Acheuleur”, “Moustere”, “Solutre” ", "madeleine") and outlined the approximate dates of each period. Further discoveries forced additions and clarifications to Mortilier’s periodization.

In 1861, the book of the Swiss legal historian I. Bakhoven “Mother’s Right” appeared, in which the author for the first time proved that “mother’s right” preceded “father’s”, and thereby refuted Aristotle’s patriarchal theory, according to which the first people lived in families, where the rulers there were men. Bakhoven for the first time puts the problem of promiscuity on a scientific basis, substantiates the first stage of disordered relations between the sexes, or the era of “hetaerism,” as he called it, through which all peoples without exception passed.

In 1877, the work of the American scientist L. Morgan “Ancient Society” appeared. The author's merit lies in the fact that he discovered the clan organization that preceded the state and showed the place of the clan within the tribe. Morgan also proposed a periodization of primitive society according to the stages of culture. Remaining in the position of the evolutionary school, Morgan came close to materialism. He proved the universality of historical development from matriarchy to patriarchy, from collective forms of property to private. Morgan painted a picture of the development of family relationships, forms of marriage, and showed that monogamy appears at the final stage of development of primitive society. Subsequently, many of Morgan’s provisions became outdated (for example, periodization), some acquired local significance and applicability, some turned out to be erroneous;

The problem of the emergence of matriarchy and patriarchy is discussed. Nevertheless, Morgan's conclusions managed to take root in the minds of a number of subsequent generations of scientists, and we find traces of them everywhere. As for Marxism, here they have received undeniable recognition.

At one time, L. Morgan’s work “Ancient Society” was especially highly appreciated by F. Engels. “It is clear to everyone,” wrote the classic of Marxism, “that this opens a new era in the development of primitive history. The clan, based on maternal right, has become the core around which all this science revolves; Since its discovery, it has become clear in which direction and what should be studied and how the results should be grouped

F. Engels implemented these ideas in his book “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State” (1884), which was written on the basis of a generalization of scientific data of the late 19th century .

Important merit in the development of a number of issues of primitive history, including the origin of the state, belongs to Soviet scientists: P.P. Efimenko, A.I. Pershits, A.L. Mongait, S.P. Tolstov, A.P. Okladnikov, M M. Gerasimov and many others.

A large amount of ethnographic material, shedding light on the distant past, was also collected by Belarusian scientists of the second half of the 19th century- beginning of the 20th century Particularly noteworthy are the works of I.I. Nosovich, P.V. Shein, E.R. Romanov, E.F. Karsky, M.V. Dovnar-Zapolsky and others. For example, P.V. Shein and E.F. Karsky was collected a large number of Belarusian folk songs. I.I. Nosovich and E.R. Romanov did a great job of compiling a dictionary of the Belarusian language and collecting folklore and ethnographic material. E.R. Romanov was simultaneously engaged in anthropological and archaeological research. In the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. Peter I AN Russian Federation there are over 2 thousand objects from the excavations of E.R. Romanov. M.V. Dovnar-Zapolsky was interested in socio-economic topics (work on the study of the “yards” of Belarusians is especially important). He studied family life, in particular Belarusian wedding rituals, as well as customary law, etc.

During the years of Soviet power, significant contributions to the study of primitive society and the emergence of the state on the territory of modern Belarus were made by A.N. Lyavdansky, K.M. Polikarpovich, L.D. Pobol, G.V. Shtykhov, V.K. Bondarchik and etc. Some of them are still working in the field of Belarusian science.

After a brief historiographical review, it becomes clear that to study primitive society, the origin of the state and law, scientists use a wide variety of sources, which are studied by various social and natural sciences. However, the most important of them are: archaeology, ethnography, anthropology, linguistics, folklore, geology, etc.

The first place among the named disciplines belongs to archeology- a branch of historical science that extracts and studies ancient and medieval material monuments, known as “cultures”. Archaeological culture is understood as a group of monuments (settlements, burial grounds, etc.), united by one time, common territory and the same characteristics . Based on the study of tools, remains of settlements and dwellings, utensils, burials and other finds, archaeologists reconstruct the life of ancient people, their social organization, and culture.

However, archaeological sources are insufficient for a comprehensive study of human history, since on the basis of them it is impossible to completely trace all aspects of the social and spiritual life of society. Data Fills This Gap ethnography(Greek ethnicity - people, grapho- I am writing, i.e. folk description, or folk studies). In recent years, in parallel with this name in the specialized literature, the term ethnology, which defines ethnography as a theoretical discipline as opposed to a descriptive one (ethnicity - people, logo ~ teaching, science). Both terms have the right to exist and can be used in different contexts as interchangeable synonymous words . Ethnography studies the life not only of culturally “backward” people, who retain signs of a primitive state, but also of highly developed peoples, whose economy, life and culture contain remnants of elements of a long-passed stage of development. Especially many remnants of the past have been preserved in wedding and religious ceremonies.

Anthropology(Greek anthropos- Human, logo- doctrine) comprehensively explores the biological nature of man.

Linguists, studying the languages ​​of peoples, establish etymology words (Greek etymon- truth, original meaning), the origin of individual names, their relationship with the words of a given language and the languages ​​of other peoples. In this way, certain aspects of the historical past of people emerge.

For a researcher studying primitive society, it is important not only to find and analyze sources, but also to establish the place and time of their appearance. In other words, the history of primitive society, like all history in general, is unthinkable without chronology. In the course of the history of primitive society, researchers use two types of chronology: absolute and relative. Absolute chronology indicates with greater or less accuracy the time of a particular event (millennium, century, year, month). When studying the history of primitive society, relative chronology is of greater importance. It establishes the sequence of events, or their relationship in time. The units of measurement of relative chronology are large (hundreds and tens of millennia). According to relative chronology, for example, a periodization of the history of the earth's crust and a periodization of the history of primitive society have been compiled. To study the process of decomposition of the primitive communal system and the origin of the state, knowledge of relative chronology is especially important, since it makes all the material easily visible. Periodization is established on the basis of analysis and systematization of all scientific material. For example, periodization, based on new archaeological data and identifying as one of the main milestones in the development of primitive society, is of particular methodological value for the theory of state and law. "Neolithic revolution" (Neolithic- New Stone Age).

In general, the question of periodization of the history of primitive society remains one of the most difficult in science today. It accumulates with every decade new material, which breaks the accepted schemes and constructions, gives rise to new hypotheses in solving the problem of primitive history.

Thus, Morgan's periodization with two large stages in the history of primitive society - “savagery” and “barbarism”, each of which is divided into three stages (lower, middle and highest) - played a big role in the development of science, but is now outdated and does not correspond new data from archeology and ethnography. It suffers from mechanicalness; new facts do not fit into its framework. Although L. Morgan based the division into periods on advances in the field of material production, as new material was accumulated, it turned out that some of them were not universal. For example, bow and arrows, characteristic feature(according to Morgan) for the “highest stage of savagery,” were not known to the Polynesians, although the latter were more developed than the Melanesians, who used these weapons. “The highest stage of barbarism”, i.e. the state of society on the eve of the state, Morgan was determined by such a basic feature as the smelting of iron ore. However, it is known that a number of peoples of the Ancient East came to statehood during the Copper-Bronze Age, i.e. before use in iron production.

However, some researchers are now adopting L. Morgan’s periodization scheme for primitive society, albeit filling it with largely different content.

Currently, the periodization of the history of primitive society is carried out in two directions. The first is based on establishing the stages of development of the means of production: Paleolithic (Old Stone Age); Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age); Neolithic (New Stone Age); Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone Age); Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. As we can see, the difference between eras lies in the method of making tools, the material used and the method of processing it.

The second direction of periodization of primitive society is based on the stages of development of the social organization of people: the primitive herd community, the maternal clan community, the patriarchal clan community and the decomposition of the clan system.

The primitive herd community dates back to the Eolithic (dawn of stone), Early and Middle Paleolithic. In the Late Paleolithic era, a maternal line appears, the further development of which occurs in the Mesolithic, Early Neolithic and full flowering in the Late Neolithic. In the Eneolithic, patriarchy arose, the heyday of which fell on the Bronze Age. The period of collapse of the clan system was called by L. Morgan and F. Engels the system of military democracy. The system of military democracy dates back to the Copper-Bronze Age for some peoples, and to the Early Iron Age for others.

The proposed periodization is used by a number of scientists as a working hypothesis, but not all researchers adhere to it. Some distinguish only the Early and Late Paleolithic, the Middle is referred to as the Early Paleolithic (P.I. Boriskovsky). Due to the fact that in the process of development of labor there was a process of formation of man as a biological individual, some scientists, in particular Yu.I. Semenov, call the era of the primitive herd the stage of emerging people, i.e. the period of formation of human society, and the period of the appearance of a person of a modern physical type in the Upper Paleolithic is called the era of the tribal system, or the beginning of the period of development of human society. D.A. Krainov, in contrast to this division, notes three stages in the development of man and society: the first stage is the era of the formation of man (corresponds to the beginning of Eolithic time); the second stage is the time of the emergence of primitive man and society, this is the prenatal primitive commune (archaeologically corresponds to the Lower and partly Middle Paleolithic); the third stage is the clan (tribal) organization of society from its beginning to the era of the decomposition of the clan system (the end of the Middle and the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic).

The period of decomposition of the clan system is also defined differently. Some researchers call it the era of the “neighborhood community”, and the system of “military democracy” as political organization societies are not considered a universal stage in the development of every nation.

All this testifies to the complexity of the problem of periodization of the history of primitive society and the efforts of scientists aimed at resolving it.

The latest data on the issues under consideration are presented in recently published works of Western and domestic researchers. In them, concrete historical material is presented not in a formational, but in a civilizational way. This is all the more important because the class-formational approach to the study of human society was the only one in our scientific and educational literature. Therefore, we should welcome and fully support those authors in whose works the civilizational approach to the study of the history of human society is gaining increasing recognition. ,

Chapter 2. Power in primitive society

Power in primitive society was not homogeneous. At the head of the family-clan group was the patriarch father, the eldest among the younger relatives of his generation and subsequent generations. The head of a family group is not yet the owner, not the owner of all its property, which is still considered common, collective. But thanks to his position as a senior and responsible leader of the economy and the life of the group, he acquires the rights of a manager. It is his authoritarian decision that determines who and how much to allocate for consumption and what to leave as a reserve, for accumulation, etc. He also determines how to dispose of the surplus, the use of which is closely related to relationships in the community as a whole. The fact is that the family unit, being part of the community, occupies a certain place in it, and this place, in turn, depends on a number of factors, objective and subjective.

There is usually no problem of resources in a community at an early stage of its existence - there is enough land for everyone, as well as other lands. True, something depends on the distribution of plots, but this distribution is made taking into account social justice, often by lot. Another thing is subjective factors, which manifested themselves so noticeably in the local group and, perhaps, even more noticeable in the community, although in a slightly different way. Some groups are larger and more efficient than others; some patriarchs are smarter and more experienced than others. All this affects the results: some groups turn out to be larger and more prosperous, while others are weaker. The less fortunate pay the price by having their groups become even smaller, as their share does not go or goes fewer women– therefore, there are fewer children. In short, inequality inevitably arises between groups and households. It is not that some are full, others are hungry, because in the community there is a reliably functioning mechanism of reciprocal exchange, which plays the role of insurance.

In a community there are always several highest prestigious positions (elder, council members), the possession of which not only increases rank and status, but applicants seeking them, mainly from the heads family groups, must either acquire considerable prestige in approximately the same way as was done in local groups, i.e. through generous distribution of surplus food. But if in a local group the applicant gave away what he himself had obtained, now the head of the group could distribute what was obtained by the labor of the entire group, the property of which he had the right to dispose of. (Vasiliev L.S.)

Thus, Vasiliev emphasizes that the elder had the right to dispose of the community’s resources at his own discretion, and this in turn speaks of the elder’s great authority. Vasiliev places the elder above other inhabitants of the community, and this is already an indicator of the manifestation of power.

When speaking about the social structure, power and management in a primitive society, it is necessary to keep in mind mainly the period of a mature primitive society, because during the period of collapse the primitive communal system and the power and management inherent in it undergo certain changes.

The social structure of a mature primitive society is characterized by two main forms of unification of people - clan and tribe. Almost all the peoples of the world went through these forms, in connection with which the primitive communal system is often called the tribal organization of society.

The clan (tribal community) is historically the first form of social association of people. It was a family-production union based on blood or presumed kinship, collective labor, joint consumption, common property and social equality. Sometimes the clan is identified with the family. However, this is not quite true. The clan was not a family in the modern sense. A clan is precisely a union, an association of people connected by family ties, although in a certain sense a clan can also be called a family.

Another important form of social association of primitive people was the tribe. Tribe - larger and later public education, which arises with the development of primitive society and the increase in the number of tribal communities. A tribe is a union of tribal communities, again based on kinship ties, which has its own territory, name, language, common religious and everyday rituals. The unification of clan communities into tribes was caused by various circumstances, including such as joint hunting of large animals, repelling attacks from enemies, attacks on other tribes, etc.

In addition to clans and tribes, in primitive society there are also such forms of unification of people as phratries and tribal unions. Phratries (brotherhoods) are either artificial associations of several related clans, or the original branched clans. They were an intermediate form between clan and tribe and did not occur among all, but only among some peoples (for example, among the Greeks). Tribal unions are associations that arose among many peoples, but already during the period of decomposition of the primitive communal system. They were created either to fight wars or to protect against external enemies. According to some modern researchers, it was from tribal alliances that early states developed.

Clans, phratries, tribes, tribal unions, being various forms social association of primitive people, at the same time differed little from each other. Each of them is just a larger, and therefore more complex form compared to the previous one. But they were all the same type of associations of people, based on blood or presumed kinship.

Now let's see how Marx K. and Engels F. imagined power and control during the period of mature primitive society .

Power as the ability and opportunity to exert a certain influence on the activities and behavior of people using any means (authority, will, coercion, violence, etc.) is inherent in any society. It arises with him and is his indispensable attribute. Power gives society organization, controllability and order. Public power is public power, although public power often means only state power, which is not entirely correct. Closely related to public power is management, which is a way of exercising power and putting it into practice. To manage means to lead, to dispose of someone or something.

The public power of a primitive society, which, in contrast to state power, is often called potestar (from the Latin “potestas” - power, power), is characterized by the following features. Firstly, she was not cut off from society and did not stand above it. It was carried out either by the society itself or by persons chosen by it, who did not have any privileges and could be revoked at any time and replaced by others. This government did not have any special management apparatus, any special category of managers, which is available in any state. Secondly, the public power of primitive society was based, as a rule, on public opinion and the authority of those who exercised it. Coercion, if it took place, came from the entire society - clan, tribe, etc. - and any special coercive bodies in the form of the army, police, courts, etc., which again exist in any state , wasn’t here either.

In the clan community as the primary form of unification of people, power, and with it management, looked like this. The main body of both power and management was, as is commonly believed, the clan assembly, which consisted of all adult members of the clan. It resolved all the most important issues in the life of the tribal community. To resolve current, everyday issues, it chose an elder or leader. The elder or leader was elected from among the most authoritative and respected members of the clan. He did not have any privileges compared to other members of the clan. Like everyone else, he took part in production activities and, like everyone else, received his share. His power rested solely on his authority and respect for him from other members of the clan. At the same time, he could be removed from his position by the clan assembly at any time and replaced by another. In addition to the elder or leader, the clan assembly elected a military leader (military leader) for the duration of military campaigns and some other “officials” - priests, shamans, sorcerers, etc., who also did not have any privileges.

In the tribe, the organization of power and management was approximately the same as in the clan community. The main body of power and administration here, as a rule, was the council of elders (leaders), although along with it there could also be a popular assembly (meeting of the tribe). The council of elders included elders, chiefs, military leaders and other representatives of the clans that make up the tribe. The Council of Elders decided all the main issues of the life of the tribe with the broad participation of the people. To resolve current issues, as well as during military campaigns, a tribal leader was elected, whose position was practically no different from the position of an elder or leader of the clan. Like the elder, the leader of the tribe did not have any privileges and was considered only the first among equals.

The organization of power and administration in phratries and tribal unions was similar. Just as in clans and tribes, here there are people's assemblies, councils of elders, councils of leaders, military leaders and other bodies that are the personification of the so-called primitive democracy. No special apparatus of control or coercion, as well as power divorced from society, does not yet exist here. All this begins to appear only with the decomposition of the primitive communal system.

Thus, from the point of view of its structure, primitive society was a fairly simple organization of human life, based on family ties, collective labor, public property and social equality of all its members. Power in this society was truly popular in nature and was built on the principles of self-government. No special administrative apparatus, which exists in any state, existed here, since all issues of public life were decided by society itself. There was no special coercive apparatus in the form of courts, army, police, etc., which is also a property of any state. Coercion, if there was a need for it (for example, expulsion from a clan), came only from society (clan, tribe, etc.) and from no one else. To put it simply modern language, the society itself was parliament, government, and court. (Marx K., Engels F.)

Below we see interesting shape descriptions of the power features of the tribal community. Unfortunately, the author is not specified.

The power features of the clan community are as follows:

1. Power was of a public nature, emanating from the entire society as a whole (this was manifested in the fact that all important matters were decided by a general meeting of the clan);

2. Power was built on the principle of consanguinity, that is, it extended to all members of the clan, regardless of their location;

3. There was no special apparatus of management and coercion (authority functions were performed as an honorable duty, elders and leaders were not exempt from productive labor, but carried out both managerial and production functions- therefore, power structures were not separated from society);

4. The occupation of any positions (leader, elder) was not influenced by either the social or economic status of the applicant; their power was based solely on personal qualities: authority, wisdom, courage, experience, respect of fellow tribesmen;

5. Execution management functions did not give any privileges;

6. Social regulation was carried out using special means, the so-called. mononorm. [ 6, With. 32-70]

Chapter 3. Regulatory regulation in primitive society

Social norms included mainly customs - historically established rules of behavior that became habitual as a result of repeated use over a long time and became a natural need of people. Customs were a natural product of the primitive communal system itself, the result and necessary condition of its life. Customs arose in connection with the social need to cover by general rules the daily repeating acts of production, distribution and exchange of products, to create an order in which the individual would be subject to the general conditions of production. In my opinion, it should be noted that some, and indeed very important, customs of primitive society could neither be discovered, nor invented, nor even generated by the repetition of known processes. The equality of all members of society, including women, which seems to be such an achievement now, stemmed from the existing relations of the primitive communal system, as a natural historical result of the formation of individuals into the original forms of the collective. Equality existed because there was no basis for inequality and the latter was not recognized as something possible, which did not exclude authority and recognition of special qualities, the promotion of some outstanding individuals. The same can be said about the custom of common land ownership.

Common ownership of land and tools, equality of members of society and blood ties underlying clans and tribes, i.e. that entire social structure that replaced the horde, together constitutes the real basis for the entire mass of customs, despite their diversity. The possibility of consolidating customs and instillations imposed on a person due to the mutual dependence of individuals among whom labor is divided gave rise to labor processes, forming a language with its ability to communicate and abstractions.

Many customs were at the same time norms of primitive morality and religion, and were associated with the administration of ingrained rites and rituals. For example, the natural division of functions in the labor process and even the simplest division of responsibilities between a man and a woman, an adult and a child are considered simultaneously as a custom, as a moral norm, and as a dictate of religion.

All significant events in a person’s life are also accompanied by solemn rites and ceremonies of a predominantly religious nature. The attitude of the ancients towards religion and morality was different than at the time of class inequality. While Christianity links human behavior with rewards in other world and thereby compare people with the social system that it protects, the religion of the ancients, for example the mythology of the Greeks and Romans, directly and directly linked the conditions of earthly well-being (harvest, offspring of livestock, etc.) with the power and benevolence of a given god or a whole host of gods . Therefore, the ritual rite preceding the start of field work was not just a religious act, but also a production one. Direct benefits were expected from him, and therefore neglect of the details of the ritual was viewed as a social disaster.

Numerous prohibitions (taboos), which were a means of protecting custom, were of great importance. First discovered among Polynesians. The taboo was then discovered among all peoples at a certain stage of development. Emerging at the very dawn of history, taboo played a huge role in strengthening exogamous orders and in the social regulation of the sexual regime in general. Thanks to taboos, primitive society managed to achieve discipline that ensured the extraction and reproduction of life's goods. The taboo protected hunting grounds, bird nesting places and animal rookeries from excessive, unjustified destruction; it ensured this form of division of labor and these conditions for the existence of people in a collective. “The taboo system regulated, to one degree or another, almost all aspects of the life of primitive man, both personal and social. “The taboo-protected regulation was based on a rational character. “The motivation of such taboos by religious ideology is clear and coincides in content with the basic regulations of law and morality, but is dressed in the form of a religious prohibition. “Primitive man was very afraid of breaking a taboo, because, according to his ideas and beliefs, this would be punished by the spirits.” "That. a taboo is nothing more than a religious form that embodies real content, a special kind of sanction; following a deviation from the dominant ideology in society.” A taboo in itself does not create either custom or morality, but it reinforces custom with extraordinary force and protects it. [ 9, 68-75]

At the end of the 70s, the concepts of primitive mononorm and mononormatics were proposed in Russian ethnology. A mononorm was understood as an undifferentiated, syncrete rule of behavior, which cannot be attributed to either the field of law, or the field of morality with its religious awareness, or the field of etiquette, since it combines the features of any behavioral norm.

The concept of a primitive mononorm has received noticeable recognition and further development in Russian ethnology, archeology, and most importantly, in theoretical jurisprudence. Scientists began to distinguish two stages in the evolution of primitive mononormatics: classical and dating back to the time of its stratification.

A special opinion regarding the first stage of mononormatics was expressed by the largest domestic historian primitiveness Yu.I. Semenov. At the beginning of this stage, he identified tabooity - a set of not always understandable, but formidable instructions, punishable by death for such grave crimes as, for example, incest, violation of exogamy. As is known, violation of exogamy is one of the manifestations of sexual taboos, to which an impressive literature is devoted. (Dumanov, Pershits)

Were primitive customs law? Some modern researchers answer this question in the affirmative. However, one can agree with this only if law here is understood as natural law. But even in this case, it is hardly correct to call primitive customs law, since primitive religion and primitive morality found their expression in them to no less (if not more) degree. In this regard, primitive customs can just as easily be called religion or morality. In addition, these customs did not yet clearly distinguish between the rights and obligations of members of society. Therefore, it is quite justified to call them mononorms, as many modern researchers do, taking into account that in primitive customs it is syncretic, i.e. in unity, in an undivided form, legal, religious, and moral (moral) principles are expressed .

The system of normative regulation in primitive society is characterized by the following features:

1. Natural ( like the organization of power) character, historically determined process of formation.

2. Action based on the mechanism of custom.

3. Syncreticity, indivisibility of the norms of primitive morality, religious, ritual and other norms. ( Hence their name - “mononorms”, which was introduced by the Russian ethnographer A.I. Pershits.)

4. The prescriptions of mononorms did not have a granting-binding nature: their requirements were not regarded as a right or obligation, because they were an expression of socially necessary, natural conditions of human life. F. Engels wrote about this: “Within the clan system there is still no distinction between rights and duties; for the Indian there is no question whether participation in public affairs, blood feud or the payment of a ransom for it is a right or an obligation; such a question would seem to him as absurd as the question whether food, sleep, hunting are a right or a duty? ( "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State", 1884). A member of the clan simply did not separate himself and his interests from the clan organization and its interests.

5. Dominance of prohibitions. Mainly in the form of a taboo, that is, an indisputable prohibition, the violation of which is punishable by supernatural forces. It is assumed that historically the first taboo was the prohibition of incest - consanguineous marriages.

6. Extension only to this tribal collective ( violation of custom is a “related matter”).

7. Normative and regulatory significance of myths, sagas, epics, tales and other forms of artistic social consciousness.

8. Specific sanctions - condemnation of the offender’s behavior by the clan group ( "public censure"), ostracism ( expulsion from the clan community, as a result of which a person found himself “without clan and tribe,” which was practically tantamount to death). Bodily injury and the death penalty were also used.

Law, like the state, arises as a result of the natural historical development of society, as a result of processes occurring in the social organism. At the same time, there are different theoretical versions of the origin of law. One of them is set out in great detail in the theory of Marxism. An approximate scheme is as follows: social division of labor and growth of productive forces - surplus product - private property - antagonistic classes - state and law as instruments of class domination. Thus, this model brings to the fore political reasons emergence of law.

Modern authors in explaining the genesis of law use the concept of the Neolithic revolution ( from the word “Neolithic” - new Stone Age), which occurs approximately in the VIII-III centuries. BC e. and consists in the transition from an appropriating economy to a producing one. There is a need to regulate the production, distribution and exchange of goods, to harmonize the interests of different social strata, class contradictions, that is, to establish general order, corresponding to the needs of the producing economy.

The formation of law is manifested:

a) in the recording of customs, the formation of customary law;

b) in bringing the texts of customs to the public;

c) in the appearance of special organs ( state), responsible for the existence of fair universal rules, their official consolidation in clear and accessible forms, and ensuring their implementation.

In sanctioning customs and creating judicial precedents important role played a role in the judicial activities of priests, supreme rulers and persons appointed by them.

Thus, a fundamentally new regulatory system arises ( right), which is distinguished by the content of the rules, methods of influencing people’s behavior, forms of expression, mechanisms for ensuring .

Conclusion

As noted in previous chapters, society moves from one stage of development to another. The emergence of state and law is one of the laws of history. As was traced in this course work, power in primitive society gradually developed, as did social norms, which passed their evolutionary path from customs and taboos to the first rudiments of law. And eventually this led to the creation of the state. After all, as noted above, the process of creating a state is one of the most important patterns of history, one of the last rounds of the activity of the human mind. At some stage in the development of primitive society, people realized that if they did not transform their activities, social norms and power, then the road to life, the road to the future was closed. And from this moment the transformation of social norms into law begins, and the transformation of power into the state.

In conclusion, we can say that this topic has not been fully studied and remains relevant to this day, because there are many different opinions on this issue that has not yet been fully clarified. The study of the problems of the emergence of state and law is the most important direction of science, since without awareness of what happened before us, we will not be able to fully understand what kind of world we live in now, and even more so, what the world will be like after us.

Bibliography

1. Vengerov A.B. Theory of Government and Rights. Omega-L.2004.
2. K. Marx and F. Engels. Op. T.22.
3. . Shtow B.C. Etnagraf1chnaya spadchsha. Belarus. Krasha i lyudz1 Mn., 1996
4. Ancient civilizations / S.S. Averintsev, V.P. Alekseev, V.A. Ardzinba and others; Under general editorship G.M. Bongard-Levin. M., 1989; Lamberg-Karlovski K., Sablov J. Ancient civilizations. Middle East and Mesoamerica /Trans. from English A.A. Ponomarenko and I.S. Klochkova. M., 1992; Berman G.J. Western tradition of law: the era of formation / Transl. from English M., 1994; Toynbee A.J. Comprehension of history / Transl. from English M., 1996
5. A.F. Vishnevsky, N.A. Gorbatok, V.A. Kuchinsky. General theory of state and law. Minsk. "Theseus" 1999.
6. Vasiliev L.S. History of the East // Reader on the history of state and law foreign countries. T.2. Krasnoyarsk, 2002.
7. Dumanov Kh.M., Pershits A.I. Mononormatics and initial law // State and law, 2000, No. 1. With. 98-103
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9. I. L. Andreev. The origin of man and society. Thought 1988.

1. V. P. Alekseev A. I. Pershits. History of primitive society. graduate School 1990

Power is an ancient and ubiquitous property of any social organization, to ensure which an element of dominion and subordination is necessary.

In its original, embryonic form, power in primitive society was exercised in the interests of all its members. The power of a primitive society is a way of ensuring public interest by accessible and acceptable means, including resolving issues of inter-tribal peace or military clashes, managing the economy and performing religious rites, resolving controversial issues, coordinating other relations within a tribal association, which was of a purely public nature in the primitive communal system.

Of course organizational forms such power in specific conditions were different. Nevertheless, all adult members of the clan participated in the exercise of public power.

The most important issues concerning the entire clan were resolved by a general meeting. The same assembly elected an elder, a leader or priest, a leader in hunting and other public affairs, who governed the daily life of the clan community.

Priests (leaders) in primitive society did not have any advantages; they worked and lived on an equal basis with everyone else. Their power was based on personal authority and merit to the clan, multiplied by the expressed will and trust of the assembly of clan members, and the respect of clan members for the experience of their elders.

In the absence of writing in primitive society, the priest was a kind of transmitter of information and experience from the past and present to the future. More precisely, all the collected experience, abilities, skills and religious ideas were passed on by the priests from generation to generation.

To solve the most important issues, a council of elders and leaders gathered. At such a council, issues were resolved collectively.

With such an organization of power in a primitive society, the creation of a special administrative apparatus was not required, just as there was no need for the presence of punitive bodies; their functions were also carried out by the elder (council of elders), taking into account the opinion of the entire society as a whole.

The head of the clan (leader, elder) could be removed by the general meeting of the clan at any time; they did not have immunity and carried out their functions under the control of the clan.

The armed force of the clan community consisted of all men capable of bearing arms.

Coercion was relatively rare and consisted, as a rule, of imposing duties for wrongdoing. The extreme form of punishment was expulsion from the community. Basically, punishment consisting of condemnation by relatives, elders or leaders was sufficient.

Perhaps the only criterion for the correctness of an action or its condemnation was the approval or censure of relatives (public opinion), especially elders, leaders, and priests. Coercion, as a rule, consisted of the imposition of additional duties for a committed offense.

Expulsion from the community was almost always tantamount to a death sentence. In harsh weather conditions, in the complexity of a solitary hunt, a person was practically doomed to hunger, cold, and ran the risk of being killed by a large animal or another tribe.

Primitive society had its own certain rules of behavior (customs), which in turn are closely related to the already existing religion, morality, family and personal values.

From generation to generation, due to the practical necessity of organizing the social and economic life of the clan, relatively stable rules of behavior took shape in primitive society, ensuring the viability of the clan and strengthening it social connections, economic development. These rules in their generalized form came to be called custom (that is, usual, habitual and generally accepted, normal behavior).

In the interests of all members of the clan, customs consolidated the most rational and rejected erroneous behaviors of people in social significant situations. In other words, a custom is a historically established traditional rule (norm) of behavior generally accepted in certain conditions and in the social sphere, tested and consolidated by repeated repetition during long-term social practice.

Customs regulated all spheres of activity of primitive man and they acted in conjunction with moral norms that emerged later as ideas about good and evil, honest and dishonest. Customs often took the form of religious rituals and were supported not only by the strength of public opinion, the authority of elders, established practice, and the necessity of life, but also by the threat of punishment from above.

Thus, the understanding of custom in this capacity is given the collective meaning of the social norms of primitive society, which ensured the existence of the appropriating economy and procreation.

The form of human coexistence during the period of the primitive communal system was the clan (primitive clan community), which was an association of people based on consanguinity, joint collective labor, common ownership of tools and products of activity. All this determined the equality of members of the clan and the inseparability of their interests.

Management of the clan was, by its nature, natural self-government: the authorities (meetings of adult members of the clan, leaders, elders, etc.) were included in the object of management itself and were not alienated from it.

For regulatory systems Primitive society is characterized by the following features:

1. Natural (like the organization of power) character, a historically determined process of formation.

2. Action based mechanism of custom.

3. Syncreticity, indivisibility of the norms of primitive morality, religious, ritual and other norms. (Hence their name - “mononorms”, which was introduced by the Russian ethnographer A.I. Pershits.)

4. Prescriptions of mononorms did not have a binding nature: their demands were not regarded as a right or obligation, because they were an expression of socially necessary, natural conditions of human life. F. Engels wrote about this: “Within the clan system there is still no distinction between rights and duties; for the Indian there is no question whether participation in public affairs, blood feud or the payment of a ransom for it is a right or an obligation; such a question would seem to him as absurd as the question, are food, sleep, hunting a right or a duty? A member of the clan simply did not separate himself and his interests from the clan organization and its interests.

5. Dominance of prohibitions. Mostly in uniform taboo, that is, an indisputable prohibition, the violation of which is punishable by supernatural forces. It is assumed that historically the first taboo was prohibition incest - consanguineous marriages.

6. Distribution only to this clan collective (violation of custom is a “related matter”).

7. The normative and regulatory significance of myths, sagas, epics, tales and other forms of artistic social consciousness.

8. Specific sanctions - condemnation of the offender’s behavior by the clan community (“public censure”), ostracism (expulsion from the clan community, as a result of which the person found himself “without clan and tribe,” which was practically tantamount to death). Bodily injury and the death penalty were also used.

Thus, from all of the above, we can draw the obvious conclusion that power in primitive society was public and had democratic characteristics.