Organized power and ritual among the Olmec
 

Graeber / Wengrow 386: "if [Olmec states] were 'states' in any sense at all, then they are probably best defined as seasonal variations of what Clifford Geertz once called 'theatre states,' where organized power was realized only periodically, in fleeting spectacles. Anything we might consider 'statecraft,' from diplomacy to the stockpiling of resources, existed in order to facilitate the rituals, not the other way around."

> from David Graeber and David Wengrow's Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (2021)

> tagged with #ritual, #central_america, #government

> created July 30, 2025 at 1:23:21 PM


> part of unfinished everything


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unfinished everything is an original work / ongoing project (1997-present) by jeremy p. bushnell

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