Discussion Questions
- In large communities, it can be difficult for people to feel a sense of connection or loyalty to people outside their immediate fami- lies. Choose one of the social-integration techniques used in tribes and chiefdoms and explain why it can successfully encourage solidarity between people. Can you identify similar systems for encouraging social integration in your own community?
- Although state societies are efficient in organizing people and resources, they also are associated with many disadvantages, such as extreme disparities in wealth, use of force to keep people in line, and harsh laws. Given these difficulties, why do you think the state has survived? Do you think human populations can develop alternative political organizations in the future?
- Why is it important to understand whether ISIS is or is not likely to become a state?
