Page 476 - Cultures and Organizations

The Evolution of Cultures 441

the cultural dimensions described in this book, their cultures had a small
power distance, and they were rather individualistic, uncertainty tolerant,
and indulgent.
What about the other dimensions of culture: masculinity versus femi-
ninity and long- versus short-term orientation? Although this is of course
no more than an educated guess, a comparison with present-day hunter-
gatherers may help. English family members and jacks-of-all-trades
Michael, Henry, and Kathryn Davies spent the best time of their lives try-
ing to draw a coherent picture of our prehistoric social evolution. Using as
their basis the work of various anthropologists, they show evidence of the
Mbuti tribe from central Africa, whose members until very recently lived as
14
hunter-gatherers. They paint a picture that fi ts the suggestion presented in
the preceding discussion. For instance, the roles of the sexes were deemed
to some extent to be interchangeable and undifferentiated. Discipline was
exerted not through heavy punishment but through ridicule. Mixed mar-
riages from different primary groups were tolerated, and in the case of
noncompatibilities of temper, people could migrate to another group. Sexual

infidelity by either husband or wife was not a contentious issue. So, society
was permissive, but this liberty did not include permission to boast. The
most able group members were expected to disguise their adroitness, so as
to avoid creating jealousy. In conclusion, among the Mbuti the moral circle
was every group member’s responsibility, and it was live and let live. To
summarize, their description seems to show what this book has introduced

as a feminine, flexhumble (long-term oriented) culture.
The Davieses present the Mbuti as an example of what they call an
“abundant- scale” hunter-gatherer society, one in which extreme climate and
food scarcity are not a major threat. For “scarce-scale” hunter- gatherers,
such as the aborigines who live in the arid regions of Australia, the pic-
ture is different and more complicated. Scarce food leads to low population

densities, which poses a threat to genetic fitness. Splitting of groups or

migration of couples away from the group would thus be hazardous, since
it lowers population size even further. As a result, there is little leeway for
interpersonal conflict. In aboriginal regions traditional society was char-

acterized by strict land rights, game rights, and marriage prescriptions.
Elder men held sway. They allocated marriage partners. Girls were mar-
ried at puberty, while men normally married at around the age of thirty,
after spending many years in a life of male rituals, some of them quite pain-
ful, which created solidarity. Status had to be achieved through individual
merit. Rituals and, in general, all activities that support the spiritual life