Civilization and society is built by people working together under the coercion of masters. Often, to be masterless, is to live on the fringes of civilization. That is, unless you, yourself are a master.
I think it would be more accurate to say it has been built by people working under the coercion of masters. Just like civilization has been built by people subjected to rain, snow, drought and pestilence. These conditions may be necessary for civilization to work, but I don't think we can say for sure they are. It's just how we got here.
All of modern society is this way. Masters coerce with salaries. Societies can not be built or maintained through the power of inspirational charisma from leaders or good will from the people. Money talks. You need to pay me a salary.
How did you get to that conclusion? The human kind has been around for a long time.
The study of anthropology covers this topic. This is the general consensus among academia. The conversion of tribal societies to civilizations involves leaders coercing people to work together using wealth. The ability to accumulate wealth is the key factor that allows this to happen.