Corporate/network: new perspectives on models of political action and the Puebloan Southwest

Citation: Feinman, Gary M. (2000) Corporate/network: new perspectives on models of political action and the Puebloan Southwest. Social Theory in Archaeology (RSS)
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Summary

The author criticized that previous studies overemphasized the hierarchical complexity, which presumes centralization of power, economic stratification always directly co-occur. He then proposed network and corporate mode to expand the theoretical concepts in order to better understand the variation of societies. These two models refer to distinct strategies for achieving power, which are two polar ends at a same dimension crosscutting the hierarchical complexity. Network mode focuses on individuals and their personal network, such as personal prestige, wealth, power accumulation, elite aggrandizement, individualized leadership, long-distance exchange, exotic wealth, princely burials, and specialized manufacture of status-related craft goods. On the other hand, corporate mode stresses the group membership, communal ritual, public construction, segmental organization, food production, large cooperative labor tasks, shared power, and staple finance. These strategies might be coexisting in the political dynamics process. Following the corporate/network dimension, the author examined the settlement patterns, architectural differences, ritual structures, and storage features form a case study at Peubloan Southwest.