Reversals of Fortune: Understanding Shifts in Political Power from Above and Below

Summary

Current social theories from a variety of disciplines offer ways through which we may understand when and why citizens of a polity or subjects a ruler are likely to protest or rise in response to problems in the relationship between governments and those they govern. Some forms of asymmetry and inequality serve as good general predictors of when protest, rebellion, or civil war are most likely to occur, while the ways in which these issues are framed and resolved vary from society to society. In case studies from early historic Europe, both general predictors and unique contexts can be examined using collective action theory, cultural dimensions theory, and the theoretical concepts of political peoplehood and reiterated problem solving as keys to understanding the power of those ‘above’ and ‘below’ and the outcomes of different kinds of conflicts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Power from Below: Collectivity and Heterarchy in Global Perspective

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14511