[WP; Hierarchy in the Forest] Egalitarian society is “explained” chiefly in terms of ecological or social factors that are self-organizing. However, egalitarian behavior is found in a wide variety of social and ecological settings, and the indications are that such societies are deliberately shaped by their members.

This paper looks to egalitarian behavior as an instance of domination of leaders by their own followers, who are guided by an ethos that disapproves of hierarchical behavior in general and of bossiness in leaders in particular.

A substantial cross-cultural survey reveals the specific mechanisms by which the political rank and file creates a reverse dominance hierarchy, an anomalous social arrangement which has important implications for cross-phylogenetic comparisons and for the theory of state formation.

See Also:

The Evolution of Political Society, Fried
Social Dominance: An Intergroup Theory of Social Hierarchy and Oppression, Sidanius & Pratto
Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, Graeber
Singh2021 on witchcraft
World on Fire, Chua
Tyranny of Structurelessness
cf. the Cultural Revolution, Anabaptism, (Münster rebellion/the wreck of the Batavia)
prestige
forager vs. farmer
René Girard
Johnson et al 2021/Roberts & Davidai2021
“Hierarchy in the library: Egalitarian dynamics in Victorian novels”; “The Universal Structure of Storytelling” (OB)
“The Origins and Psychology of Human Cooperation”
“Who Becomes A Politician?”
“Winners, Losers, Insiders, and Outsiders: Comparing Hierometer and Sociometer Theories of Self-Regard”
“Why Class Formation Occurs in Humans but Not among Other Primates: A Primate Coalitions Model”
“The Logic of Fashion Cycles”
“Coalitional Value Theory: an Evolutionary Approach to Understanding Culture”
“Genetic similarity, human altruism, and group selection”
“Survival of the Systems”
“The puzzle of monogamous marriage”