Can Human Societies be Egalitarian？

“Authority is the essence of social organization”—this is a widely accepted notion. After all, there can be no social contract without authority to enforce it. And once authority is established, inequality of power and wealth becomes the natural order. Today, we will discuss a lesser-known form of social organization, one in which no individual possesses the authority to dominate others, and where egalitarianism is actively upheld by everyone. This may sound utopian, but such societies have been widely documented by anthropologists. Many of them are small, nomadic bands of hunter-gatherers. Within these societies, any attempt by "alpha" individuals to establish top-down hierarchy is always met with collective sanction. Anthropologist James Woodburn argues that such egalitarianism is not a passive condition or a mere absence of hierarchy, but an actively maintained social achievement. This “assertive egalitarianism” is embedded in the very fabric of immediate-return societies. Reference: Woodburn, J. (1982). Egalitarian Societies. Man, 17, 431-451.