Ch.9: Kinship, Family, and Marriage

·       Zhang Alan and sperm donation in China

Kinship:

the system of meaning and power that cultures create to determine who is related to whom and to define their mutual expectations, rights, and responsibilities

Nuclear family:

the kinship unit of mother, father, and children

Descent group:

a kinship group in which primary relationships are traced through certain consanguineal (‘blood’) relatives

Lineage vs clan:

Lineage:  a type of descent group that traces genealogical connection through generations by linking persons to a founding ancestor

Clan: a type of descent group based on a claim to a founding ancestor but lacking genealogical documentation

Matrilineal vs patrilineal vs ambilineal descent:

o   Patrilineal descent group: a kinship group in which membership passes to the next generation from father to son

o   Matrilineal descent group: a kinship group in which membership passes to the next generation from the mother

o   Ambilineal descent group: a kinship group in which membership passes to the next generation from both the father and mother 

Affinal relationships/ affines:

a kinship relationship established through marriage and/or alliance, not through biology or common descent

Marriage:

a socially recognized relationship that may involve physical and emotional intimacy as well as legal rights to property and inheritance

Arranged vs companionate marriages:

o   Arranged marriages: marriage orchestrated by the families of the involved parties

o   Companionate marriages: marriage built on love, intimacy, and personal choice rather than social obligation 

o   Melanie Medeiros and divorce in a Brazilian ecotourism community

Monogamy:

- a relationship between only two partners

- Monogamy, Explained (Lecture video)

- Is monogamy “natural”?

Polygamy:

·       a relationship between two or more partners

o   Polygyny: the marriage between one man and two or more women

o   Polyandry: the marriage between one woman and two or more men

• Polyandry in Tibet

Incest taboo:

cultural rules that forbids sexual relations with certain close relatives

Endogamy vs exogamy:

Exogamy: marriage to someone outside the kinship group

Endogamy: marriage to someone within the kinship group

Dowry vs bridewealth:

Bridewealth: the gift of goods or money from the groom’s family to the bride’s family as part of the marriage process

Dowry: the gift of goods or money from the bride’s family to the groom’s family as part of the marriage process

Biological vs non-biological kin/ “chosen families” 

Biological kin: people who are genetically related to one another

Non-biological/chosen families: a group of people who are not biologically related but choose to support and love each other

o   The Langkawi in Malaysia

o   “Cousins” in Southall, England

o  Carol Stack and black urban kinship networks in Chicago

·       Benedict Anderson and imagined communities

o   Max Weber and kin ties vs bureaucratic ties 

·       Reproductive technologies and Israel

·       Family of orientation vs family of procreation

• Family of orientation: the family group in which one is born, grows up, and develops life skills

• Family of procreation: the family group created when one reproduces and within which one rears children

The nuclear family and capitalism

The American Anthropological Association (AAA) and same-sex partners

Ch 9 Readings:

o   Todd, Zoe. 2017. “Fish, Kin and Hope: Tending to Water Violations in amiskwaciwâskahikan and Treaty Six Territory.” Afterall 43 (1): 102–7.

 

o   Nanda, Serena. 2000. "Arranging a Marriage in India." In Stumbling Towards the Truth: Anthropologists at Work, Philip R. Devita, ed. Pp. 196-204. Waveland Press.