Download or read book Marriage and Inequality in Classless Societies written by Jane Fishburne Collier and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 1993-02-01 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study presents three ideal-typic models for analyzing inequality in kin-based, non-stratified societies that are commonly described as bands, tribes or ranked societies (but not chiefdoms). Each model discusses the organization of inequality associated with a particular way of validating marriages. The book is a serious and complex attempt to understand the bases and dynamics of inequality in classless societies. It offers a sophisticated argument for the position that there is a culturally-structured basis for women's universal subordination. An important strength of Collier's theoretical interpretation is that it makes the case for universality of subordination without slipping into biological reductionism.