Dennis Werner

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leadership / liderança article abstracts / resumos de artigos

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1996 Leadership, In: Levinson, David e Ember, Melvin (org). Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology, vol 2. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 693-697.

• Summary of anthropological attempts to explain cross-cultural differences in leadership. Most theorists examine leadership at different levels of cultural evolution. Ethologists and anthropologists seem to agree that all human (and most, if not all, primate) societies have dominance hierarchies, but that these hierarchies can be accentuated or attenuated. In response to tyrannical leaders individuals can either leave, fight, or submit. The last option is stronger in more complex societies where the first two options (leaving or fighting) become very expensive and difficult.

1985 Political Patronage in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Current Anthropology 26(1):117-120 (co-author)

• This study uses a social mapping technique to analyze how residents of a fishing community use different categories of people. For example, relatives are called upon for loans, while neighbors and friends are for visiting. Political patrons are called upon to find jobs, especially by the less educated, who exchange votes for political favors. The school and health employees who acquired their jobs through the recommendations of a political boss were better accepted by the community than were those who obtained their jobs via competitive selection criteria. The study concludes with a discussion of the problems with political patronage.

1984 Child Care and Influence among the Mekranoti of Central Brazil. Sex Roles 10(5-6): 395-404.

• Various researchers have argued that women's influence may be 1inked to child-care requirements. This study uses quantified data from the Mekranoti-Kayapó of Central Brazil to examine some specific arguments. Among the Mekranoti, women who spend more time caring for children rate lower on influence. But the reasons for this correlation are less clear. Child-care does not seem to hinder a woman's ability to contribute to subsistence. Nor does it seem to have much effect on the personality characteristics that might affect leadership potential. Child care may, however, restrict a woman's ability to acquire the personal connections needed to exercise influence.

1982 Leadership Inheritance and Acculturation among the Mekranoti of Central Brazil Human Organization 41(4): 342-345.

• The study uses path analysis to examine various arguments about why the sons of the Mekranoti chief wield greater influence than do other Mekranoti. The original correlation between "descendance from the chief" and "influence rating" could not be explained by specific skills the sons might have acquired from their father (e.g. hunting, crafts, warrior, shamanic, speech giving ability). Nor could they be explained by the acquisition of social ties within the village (numbers of relatives or family allies). It appears that the it is their social ties outside of the village (with foreigners) that best explains how these sons acquired their influence. One of the principal roles of the village chief is to deal with the outside world, and in doing so, his family gets to know the outsiders well. Greater access to these outsiders gives the chief's sons more influence within their own community. Practical implications for dealing with Indian communities are discussed, as well as the ability of this theory to explain leadership inheritance in different cultures and historical periods.

1982 Chiefs and Presidents: A Comparison of Leadership Traits in theUnited States and among the Mekranoti-Kayapo of Central Brazil. Ethos 10(2): 136-148.

• This study compares the psychological and social characteristics of Mekranoti versus United States leaders. Mekranoti data come from fieldwork in which individuals were rated by their peers, and via psychological tests on various psychological and social characteristics United States data come from Stogdill's summary book of leadership studies in business, politics, education and the military. Leaders demonstrate similar traits in both settings (they are older, taller, more aggressive, more knowledgable and more likely to have influential fathers than their peers). However, ambition, intelligence and age were relatively more important among the Mekranoti, while originality, wealth, and geographical centrality (greater visibility) were more important in the U.S. Explanations for the differences are suggested.

1981 Are Some People more Equal than Others? Status Inequality among the Mekranoti of Central Brazil. Journal of Anthropological Research 37(4): 360-373.

• This study uses quantified data from the Mekranoti Indians to examine three questions about status inequality in nonstratified societies. 1) Are influence and prestige evenly distributed among the population? No. The same people acquire greater prestige in virtually all areas of life -- politics, military skills, ceremonial knowledge, craft-making abilities, speech-giving, shamanism and general knowledge 2) Are there material rewards to leadership? No. Leaders do not have more personal ornaments than their followers, and actually have fewer shotguns. Nor do they work less than their followers. They are, however, noted for their generosity. Although the Mekranoti are monogamous, influential males do have slightly more extra-marital affairs (only marginally significant). 3).Is there equal access to prestige and influence? No. The chief's sons have advantages others don't enjoy.

1981 Gerontocracy among the Mekranoti of Central Brazil. Anthropological Quarterly 54(1): 15-27.

• This study uses path analysis to examine various arguments about why older people acquire greater influence among the Mekranoti. One argument stresses the social ties individuals acquire with age -- sons, affines, friends, and economic dependents. Others stress personality changes in old age. And still others emphasize the acquisition of knowledge or expertise. The data suggest that knowledge of ceremonies best accounts for the greater influence of elders.