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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Nuirber 8915272 An archeology of domination: Historicizing gender and class in early Western state formation Peterson, V. Spike, Ph.D. The American University, 1988 Copyright ©1988 by Peterson, V. Spike. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb RA Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. AN ARCHEOLOGY OF DOMINATION: HISTORICIZING GENDER AND CLASS IN EARLY WESTERN STATE FORMATION by V. Spike Peterson submitted to the Faculty of the School of International Service of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations Signatures of Committee: Chair: / __________ Dean, School of International Service Date J 1988 The American University Washington, D.C. 20016 TEE ÂMSRICAF UîüTERSÏïY LTBRAP? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. (c) COPYRIGHT BY V. SPIKE PETERSON 1988 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. "Praise our choices, sisters, for each doorway open to us was taken by squads of fighting women who paid years of trouble and struggle. Who paid their wombs, their sleep, their lives that we might walk through these gates upright. Doorways are sacred to women for we are the doorways of life and we must choose what comes in and what goes out." — Marge Piercy Dedicated to four generations of women who have opened doorways in my life: Loretta Gibson, Lois Peterson, Paula Jones, and Nicole Banks. 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. AN ARCHEOLOGY OF DOMINATION: HISTORICIZING GENDER AND CLASS IN EARLY WESTERN STATE FORMATION BY V. Spike Peterson ABSTRACT This study provides a theoretical framework for and historical discussion of the construction, legitimation, and institutionalization of domination relations in early Western state formation (paleolithic era to classical Athens). Processes of social differentiation are examined within three societal configurations— Communal/Egalitarian, Kin Corporate/Lineage, and Archaic/Civil State. Societal transformations are shown to result from systemic and processual interactions among ecological, cultural, and technological variables— particularly the politics of sexuality, kinship, and citizenship; militarism; trade/exchange relationships; and cosmological/ideological transformations. Examination of transformations in meaning systems— expressed in cosmologies— is especially crucial for understanding state formation and domination relations because (1) a reorientation of meaning systems invariably accompanies— in order to legitimate— specialization of activities and differentiation of wealth, and (2) the ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. invention of writing accompanies state formation, with significant implications for the power of justificatory ideologies. To facilitate comparisons of meaning systems, three "core-relations" presumed to order the assumptions embedded in cosmologies are developed (intra-subjective, subjective-objective, and inter-subjective). The study describes state formation in the Near Eastern empires and in the Athenian polis, with attention to cosmological alterations legitimating the institution of sexual and socio-economic hierarchy. Because classical Athenian texts "fixed" the Western tradition's notions of the state and definition of "politics," a fuller understanding of Athenian state formation is critical for contemporary political and social inquiry. In particular, the public-private dichotomy delineated in those texts justified (and thereby also mystified) the fundamen tally— but not exclusively— patriarchal foundations of the polls, and by implication, subsequent Western states; failure to acknowledge the patriarchal foundations of the state impairs our understanding of the state, "politics," and domination relations. Further, institutionalization of the dichotomy established not only the politically oppressive division of public and private, but also other dichotomies as naturalized ordering principles. Specifically, the "core- iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. relations" that characterize the Western tradition are hierarchical dichotomies (creativity over procreativity, culture over nature, and autonomy over mutuality) that sustain the dynamics of domination implicit in androcen- trism, essentialism, instrumentalism, and elitism. Significantly, these dichotomies are mystified by their embeddedness in the public-private dichotomy still legitimized by the liberal state. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout this project, I had looked forward to composing the "Acknowledgements" section. Not only would writing it mark the completion of a (seemingly endless) undertaking, but would also provide an opportunity to "name" those who helped make it possible. As it turns out, I have accumulated so many "debts" in the process that I no longer consider a complete expression of acknowledgements possible. I offer instead simply an abbreviated listing of those to whom I owe special thanks. I am especially grateful for close friends who nourished my spirit as well as my research: Therese Borden, Mary Case, Sandra Gain, Peggy Johnson, Ed Mihalkanin, Mary Margaret Pignone, Paul Ramshaw, Anne Runyan, Sandra Sands, Jane Sledge, and Claudine Weatherford. The love of friends far away but with me in heart has also kept me whole; I thank especially Barbara Crook, Celia Forrest, Ross Halleck, Jane Hera, John Olander, and the extended family of the mountain-top camp. My family has also been an important source of love, support, and encouragement. I owe my parents special thanks— for a lifetime of promoting my education, and for Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. facilitating the current project by providing me with a computer! I am very grateful to Nick Onuf, whose intellectual quality has inspired many of us at the School of International Service, and whose encouragement of my own work has been invaluable to my development. Finally, it is with particular fondness and admiration that I thank Valerie French. Her enthusiasm, commitment, and hugs have kept me going when the going got tough. Her vitality, warmth, and integrity have inspired my work and my belief in the possibilities of a "heartier" and— in that specific sense— "richer" world. VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................... V CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............... 1 II. COMMUNAL/EGALITARIAN CONFIGURATION ............... 68 III. KIN CORPORATE/LINEAGE CONFIGURATION ............... 92 IV. ARCHAIC/CIVIL STATE CONFIGURATION; MESOPOTAMIA........................................ 124 V. ARCHAIC/CIVIL STATE CONFIGURATION; ATHENS ............................................ 165 VI. THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE DICHOTOMY IN CLASSICAL ATHENIAN TEXTS .............................................. 198 VII. CONCLUSION ........................................ 240 BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................

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