Stages and the state: How do they relate?

If we take the ‘long view’ at its face value we land of course in the midst of the grand theories of the evolution of human societies. Such theories are difficult to tame, to discipline them into frameworks that make them operational by even the most tolerant of standards. The problems are compounded if we try to see such theories in relation to the political will, seeking clarification of what the role of the state should be in such constructs. But without taking significant account of the state, theories of stages are seriously incomplete. The present essay considers some of the problems that confront grand theory when the claims of the state are made explicit.