Kinship, Achievement and Social Change in Tribal Societies: Report of 1300 Interviews with Rubber Workers in Liberia, West Africa
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Date
1970-09
Authors
Hendrickson, Leslie Clyde
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
What can be called the conventional view concerning the
operation of family, kinship and other ascriptive ties
during social change in non-Western countries is subjected
to an extensive critique. The conventional view typically
characterizes social organization in non-industrial areas as
primarily subject to ascriptive principles. Social values
are conceptualized as "tradition," "primitive," or
"custom-bound," and it is asserted that an emphasis on
family ties and ascription is part of an integrated set of
phenomena found in non-industrial areas. With respect to industrial societies, the conventional
view asserts that ascriptive principles do not operate to
any important degree. These societies are described by
concepts such as "modern," "civilized" or "individualistic,"
and it is argued that an emphasis on individual achievement
and competition are part of an integrated set of phenomena
found in more developed societies. The conventional view
stresses the interrelatedness of all parts of society and therefore
societies at different levels of development must have different social structures and social values. In
this view, social change becomes a shift from phenomena
which characterize the "traditional" society to phenomena
which characterize the "modern" society. Since these two
societies are in opposition at so many points it is asserted
that the shift is generally sudden and dramatic. This dissertation criticizes the conventional view for
its assertion that societies can be divided into these two
types and that social change generally can be conceived of
as a transition between these types. Societies with different
levels of technology may in fact have similarities in
their social organization. Social relationships are regular
and recurrent but the same regularity may be found at different
technological levels. In addition to offering a
unique theoretical synthesis, the dissertation offers
empirical data on the existence of achievement orientations
among tribal peoples.
A total of 1330 workers were sampled at four rubber plantations in Liberia, West Africa. The majority can be
described as achievement oriented. Variables reflecting
the conventional view, e.g. "modernization," "industrialization,"
and "urbanization" were used in an attempt to
explain these findings. Specifically studied were education,
work experience, "adaption to wage-labor," self-conception
and urban experience. Achievement orientation was not positively related to any of these variables. Instead,
this dissertation accounts for the existence of an
achievement orientation among tribal people by showing that
the amount of achievement orientation varied by tribe. Two
factor analyses and a cluster analysis show that although a
basic similarity existed among the tribes, i.e. all stress
achievement, men from three Kwa-speaking tribes in our
sample, the Kru, Krahn, and Grebo, were more achievement
oriented than men from the other seven tribes. This variation by language group suggested that an
explanation for the existence of achievement responses
should be sought in the social structure of the tribes.
Historical and ethnographic data showed that the Kwaspeaking
group have a distinctive history of occupying
coastal jungle areas and governing themselves through decentralized
political authority. They did not have secret
societies nor did they congregate in dense populations. The
Mande and West Atlantic-speaking peoples had been pushed toward
the coast by expansionary pressures from the interior.
These latter peoples were relatively more stratified, had
secret societies, were more likely to have farmed, and had
a centralized political authority. The existence of
centralized authority and secret societies probably weakened
individual achievement emphases. This evidence shows the
existence of achievement orientations among tribal peoples
and provides an explanation for it that contrary to expectations
of the conventional view does not make reference
to modernization.
Description
352 pages
Keywords
Economic development, Social conditions, Liberia, West Africa