This is a list of societies that have been described as examples of stateless societies.
There is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a state,[1] or to what extent a stateless group must be independent of the de jure or de facto control of states so as to be considered a society by itself.
The following groups have been cited as examples of stateless societies by some commentators.
Society | Period | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Essenes | 2nd century BCE – 1st century CE | Mystic Jewish sect with communal living practices. | [2] |
Icelandic Commonwealth | 930–1262 | Society in Iceland established by Norse and Catholic people. | [3][4] |
Frisian freedom | 800–1523 | Territory notably not run under the feudal practices normal in Europe at the time. | [5] |
Taborites | 1420–1452 | Hussite faction which maintained an independent Tábor. Arguably a prototypical anarcho-communist society. | [6] |
Republic of Cospaia | 1440–1826 | Microstate created by historical anomaly, independent of bordering major powers. This territory lacked many state-like apparatuses. | [7] |
South Carolina Commune | 1868–1874 | Black-led reconstruction government in South Carolina. Considered a commune by W. E. B. Du Bois. | [8] |
Human society predates the existence of states, meaning that the history of almost any ethnic group would include pre-state organisation. The groups listed below have been identified as examples of stateless societies by various commentators, including discussions relating to anarchism.