This is a list of societies that have been described as examples of stateless societies.
There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a state, [1] or to what extent a stateless group must be independent of the de jure or de facto control of states so as to be considered a society by itself.
The following groups have been cited as examples of stateless societies by some commentators.
Society | Period | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Essenes | 2nd century BCE – 1st century CE | Mystic Jewish sect with communal living practices. | [2] |
Icelandic Commonwealth | 930–1262 | Society in Iceland established by Norse and Catholic people. | [3] [4] |
Frisian freedom | 800–1523 | Territory notably not run under the feudal practices normal in Europe at the time. | [5] |
Taborites | 1420–1452 | Hussite faction which maintained an independent Tábor. Arguably a prototypical anarcho-communist society. | [6] |
Republic of Cospaia | 1440–1826 | Microstate created by historical anomaly, independent of bordering major powers. This territory lacked many state-like apparatuses. | [7] |
South Carolina Commune | 1868–1874 | Black-led reconstruction government in South Carolina. Considered a commune by W. E. B. Du Bois. | [8] |
Human society predates the existence of states, meaning that the history of almost any ethnic group would include pre-state organisation. The groups listed below have been identified as examples of stateless societies by various commentators, including discussions relating to anarchism.
Among the stateless societies that existed on the continent were the Igbo, the Birom, Angas, Idoma, Ekoi, Nbembe, the Niger Delta peoples, the Tiv (Nigeria), the Shona (Zimbabwe), Lodogea, the Lowihi, the Bobo, the Dogon, the Konkomba, the Birifor (Burkina Faso, Niger), the Bate, the Kissi, the Dan, the Logoli, the Gagu and Kru peoples, the Mano, Bassa Grebo and Kwanko (Ivory Coast, Guinea, Togo), the Tallensi, Mamprusi, Kusaasi (Ghana), the Nuer (Southern Sudan), etc. — numbering today nearly two hundred million individuals in all.
This is a list of societies that have been described as examples of stateless societies.
There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a state, [1] or to what extent a stateless group must be independent of the de jure or de facto control of states so as to be considered a society by itself.
The following groups have been cited as examples of stateless societies by some commentators.
Society | Period | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Essenes | 2nd century BCE – 1st century CE | Mystic Jewish sect with communal living practices. | [2] |
Icelandic Commonwealth | 930–1262 | Society in Iceland established by Norse and Catholic people. | [3] [4] |
Frisian freedom | 800–1523 | Territory notably not run under the feudal practices normal in Europe at the time. | [5] |
Taborites | 1420–1452 | Hussite faction which maintained an independent Tábor. Arguably a prototypical anarcho-communist society. | [6] |
Republic of Cospaia | 1440–1826 | Microstate created by historical anomaly, independent of bordering major powers. This territory lacked many state-like apparatuses. | [7] |
South Carolina Commune | 1868–1874 | Black-led reconstruction government in South Carolina. Considered a commune by W. E. B. Du Bois. | [8] |
Human society predates the existence of states, meaning that the history of almost any ethnic group would include pre-state organisation. The groups listed below have been identified as examples of stateless societies by various commentators, including discussions relating to anarchism.
Among the stateless societies that existed on the continent were the Igbo, the Birom, Angas, Idoma, Ekoi, Nbembe, the Niger Delta peoples, the Tiv (Nigeria), the Shona (Zimbabwe), Lodogea, the Lowihi, the Bobo, the Dogon, the Konkomba, the Birifor (Burkina Faso, Niger), the Bate, the Kissi, the Dan, the Logoli, the Gagu and Kru peoples, the Mano, Bassa Grebo and Kwanko (Ivory Coast, Guinea, Togo), the Tallensi, Mamprusi, Kusaasi (Ghana), the Nuer (Southern Sudan), etc. — numbering today nearly two hundred million individuals in all.