Book
Montenegrin social organization and values: political ethnography of a refuge area tribal adaptation
AMS Press • (1) • Published In 1983 • Pages: iii, 181
By: Boehm, Christopher.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The Montenegrins were never subjugated by the Ottoman Turks throughout the latter's occupation of the Balkans. How the Montenegrins, a segmentary tribal society, were able to maintain their autonomy against a powerful predatory state is the focus of this ethnohistorical study. Although the Montenegrins were fierce warriors living in a mountainous redoubt, they did not always choose to resist the Turks, but at times did enter into a tributary relationship with them. The decision when and when not to fight was based on a complex decision making process involving a set of some complimentary and some contradictory values: 'agnatic blood,' 'honor,' 'autonomy,' 'biological survival,' 'living well,' and 'social harmony.' These values applied to decision making at all levels of social organization, i.e., household, clan, tribe, and tribal confederations. The author shows how through these shared cultural values, and without centralized leadership, the Montenegrins were able to effectively respond to external forces in a way which insured their survival as a people over the centuries.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Ethos
- Social relationships and groups
- Ethics
- Kin groups
- Informal in-group justice
- External relations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Montenegrins
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1997
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Europe
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southeastern Europe
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1996
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1964-1966
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1750-1850
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Serbia and Montenegro
- NotesAdditional notes
- Christopher Boehm
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 162-172) and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 77087156
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Montenegrins