Andalusians - Sociopolitical Organization



Social Organization. Traditional Andalusian society has been said to operate primarily according to principles of patron-clientage, according to which those with greater access to wealth, power, or other resources are recruited by those with lesser access, to provide assistance. The terms used to justify such relationships may be fictive kin (by making the patron godparent to one's child) or loyalty and friendship (as between employer/employee). In modern Andalusia, more explicitly class-based factors appear to comprise the primary organizing principle. The institution of the cofradia (Brotherhood, fraternal order) has importance in organizing Cooperative efforts in preparing for ritual occasions and as a kind of mutual-aid society for its members; it is a village-based Organization of men, united for specific purposes or tasks. Each man is born into the cofradia of his father.

Political Organization. Andalusia today, as an autonomous community within the larger national polity, has its own representative who brings to the attention of the state the interests of the region and who heads a regional board that makes decisions regarding Andalusian social and Economic issues. Local communities are under the jurisdicrion of the municipality or township, the minimal administrative level. The municipal-level political organization centers on the town hall, and the leading official is the mayor.

Social Control and Conflict. As is true for many rural, face-to-face communities, one of the strongest mechanisms for social control is local gossip and other informal expressions of public censure. There is also recourse to municipal authorities.


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