Key Concepts in Kinship and Social Inequalities

Kinship

social relationships based on blood, marriage, or choice.

Terms of address

what you call someone (like "Mom," "Uncle," "Grandma").

Terms of reference

how you talk about someone (e.g., "my cousin," "her brother").

Family

a social unit made through kinship ties, living or symbolic.

Consanguineal tie

connection by blood.

Affinal tie

connection by marriage.

Nuclear family

parents + children living together.

Extended family

relatives beyond parents/kids (grandparents, uncles, cousins).

Blended family

families combined through remarriage (step-parents, step-siblings).

Fictive kin

"chosen" family, not blood or marriage (like godparents, besties you call sis).

Lineal kinship

direct ancestors or descendants (parent-child line).

Bifurcate merging kinship

groups mother's and father's siblings differently (e.g., mother's sister = mother; father's brother = father).

Generational kinship

everyone in a generation has the same term (all elders = "mother/father," all peers = "brother/sister").

Marriage

socially recognized union between people.

Polygamy

being married to multiple partners.

Marriage compensation

gifts or payments exchanged in marriage (like bridewealth, dowry).

Levirate marriage

man marries dead brother's widow.

Sororate marriage

woman marries dead sister's husband.

Social stratification

ranking people in hierarchies (class, status).

Levels of inequality

how much unequal access there is to resources, power.

Inequity

unfair, unjust treatment or conditions.

Agency

individual's ability to act and make choices.

Critical race theory

looks at how laws, systems maintain racial inequalities.

Hegemony

dominant group's power feels normal or "common sense."

Biopolitics

control over bodies, health, and populations by states or systems.

Habitus

ingrained habits, tastes, ways of being shaped by society.

Types of capital

resources: economic ($), social (connections), cultural (knowledge, taste), symbolic (prestige).

Symbolic violence

unnoticed domination through norms, expectations.

Intersectionality

overlapping social identities (race, gender, class) shape experience.

Neocolonialism

continued dominance over former colonies via economics, culture.

Structural violence

harm caused by social systems (poverty, racism) rather than direct action.

Urban Indian communities

Indigenous people living in cities.

Oral histories

spoken stories/pass-down knowledge.

Othering

viewing people as fundamentally different or "less than."

Tribal membership

legal/political belonging to a Native nation.

Cultural experts

community members with deep cultural knowledge.

Tribal scholars/ Native studies

academic field centering Native perspectives.

Reservations

lands set aside for Native nations by the government.

Marshall Court Trilogy

key Supreme Court cases defining U.S.-tribal relations.

Language

Indigenous languages, vital to identity and cultural survival.

Material culture

physical objects made, used, or valued by a culture.

Philosophies

Native ways of understanding life, knowledge, ethics.

Tribal elders

respected older members, keepers of tradition and wisdom.

Migrants

people moving from one place to another.

Immigrants

people moving into a new country to live.

Expanding beyond Africa

early human migrations out of Africa.

Interior Route/ Bering Strait Theory

migration into the Americas via land bridge.

Coastal Route

migration into the Americas along the coastlines.

Age of Discovery

European global exploration (1400s-1600s).

Postcolonialism effects

lasting impacts of colonialism on societies.

Globalization

worldwide interconnectedness of cultures, economies.

Arjun Appadurai's global cultural flows

idea that global culture moves through media, people, finance, tech, and ideas.

Cultural hybridity

blending of cultural elements from different places.

Diaspora

scattered population from a common origin (like Jewish or African diaspora).

Peasants

rural agricultural workers.

Labor migration

moving for work.

Forced migration or displacement

being pushed out of home due to war, disaster.

Environmental migration

moving due to climate change or natural disasters.

Circular migration

repeated movement between home and host places.

Refugees

people fleeing danger or persecution.

Pandemic

global spread of disease.

Sex

biological traits (chromosomes, anatomy).

Gender

social roles, behaviors linked to sex.

Sexuality

attraction, desires, sexual behavior.

Sexual orientation

who you're attracted to.

Man the hunter hypothesis

outdated theory that men evolved mainly as hunters.

Performing gender

expressing gender through actions, clothes, behavior.

Essentialism

belief that gender traits are natural, fixed.

Masculinity

cultural ideas about being male.

Intersex

biological traits not fitting typical male/female categories.

Variant gender

identities outside male/female binary.

Two-spirit

Indigenous term for people with both masculine & feminine spirits.

Gender ideology

cultural beliefs about gender roles and differences.

Transgender

identifying with a gender different from assigned sex at birth.

Gender nonbinary

identities outside the male/female binary.

Religion

organized system of beliefs and practices.

Spirituality

individual sense of connection to the sacred.

Law of similarity

magic works because things resemble each other.

Law of contagion

magic works because things have been in contact.

Mana

sacred, impersonal force.

Shamanism

spiritual practice involving mediation with spirits.

Animism

belief that natural things (rocks, trees) have spirits.

Symbolism

use of symbols to represent ideas, beliefs.

Hierophany

manifestation of the sacred.

Myths

sacred stories explaining origins, beliefs.

Oral traditions

passing down stories, knowledge by word of mouth.

Rites of intensification

rituals strengthening community bonds.

Rites of passage

rituals marking life transitions.

Rites of affliction

rituals addressing misfortune or illness.

Pilgrimage

journey to a sacred place.

Utopian communities

intentional groups seeking ideal society.

Approaches to interpretation of art

ways anthropologists analyze art's meaning.

Cultural identity through art, music, sport

how creative forms express group identity.

Early art

first human art (cave paintings, carvings).

Prehistoric art

art from before written records.

Art appreciation

valuing and understanding art.

Visual anthropology

studying culture through visuals (photos, film).

Pottery

ceramic art, often archaeological.

Tattoos

body art with cultural meaning.

Scarification

cutting/marking skin for ritual or identity.