比较视角下的国家起源动力

The Dynamics of State Origin in Comparative Perspective

目前,国家起源被理解为一个复杂的过程,诸如生态、农业、人口增长、内部冲突、传播、战争与征服、长途贸易或(和)意识形态等不同因素都有可能产生影响。各种因素的随机组合,催生了许多不同形式的复杂社会。一个极端是具有等级制度的强大帝国,另一个极端是平序政治实体(heterarchies)和城邦,两者之间是经济制度、政治制度与意识形态极为多样的政治实体。中美洲的玛雅诸政治实体未见等级结构、贵族控制与集权的证据;热带非洲的贝宁巨型社区则建立在超社区政治整合的亲属原则之上。不同的案例中,国家与文明的特征或有所不同,可见国家起源是多线性的复杂过程。

The origin of the state is now understood as a complex process in which various factors such as ecology,agriculture,population growth,internal conflicts,diffusion,war and conquest,long-distance trade,or(and)ideology may have an impact.The random combination of various factors produces many different forms of complex societies.At one extreme are powerful empires with hierarchies,at the other are heterarchies and city-states,and in between are a great variety of political entities with different economic systems,political systems,and ideologies.The Mayan political entities in Central America show no evidence of hierarchical structure,aristocratic control,and centralization;and the Benin mega-communities in tropical Africa are built on the kinship principle of supra-communal political integration.The characteristics of states and civilizations may vary from case to case,giving reason to consider the origin of the state as a multilinear and complex process.