Hierarchy without a head: Observations on changes in the social organization of some Afroamerican religions in the United States, 1959-1999 with special reference to Santeria

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the social organization of Santeria, as well as some related Afro-American religions observed on the eastern coast of the United States. The author specifies several levels of context and analysis and, as the result of two decades of fieldwork, is able to provide a description of Santeria social organization at the local, regional, national, and international levels as well as over the course of time. The author finds that the social organization of Santeria is best understood as a reticulate network that overlaps at times with the social organizations of some other religious groups. Paradoxically, Santeria is strongly hierarchical at the local level, yet largelyacephalous at higher more inclusive levels than the local. The data presented here indicate how and whysuch a structure is significant in the constitution and maintenance of this religious system; how the structure has changed and grown over time; and the direction in which it seems to be evolving, and evolution marked byvariability , and differing rates of change and involvement in movement-like activities. © Cairn 2007.