A segmentary lineage society has equivalent parts ("segments") held together by shared values.
A close family is usually the smallest and closest segment and will generally stand together.
"[1] The segmentary state has been used as a theoretical frame of reference for historical theories.
For example, by Aidan Southall in "Illusion of Tribe"[2] and by Burton Stein[3] He has used the term to explain the polity of a number of empires.
Brian Schwimmer has described a system in which complementary opposition and genealogical principles of unilineal descent are used by residential groups as a basis for political mobilization in the absence of centralized political leadership.