kinship lecture

kinship definition

the ways people are grouped together as relatives and non-relatives

the social system that organizes people in families based on descent and marriage

discourse in kinship

discourse btwn biological and social

3 varieties of nature

• shared biogenetic substance

• what animals do

• human nature

basic form of kinship

marriage

its a rite of passage

marriage as a rule-bound institution

marriage prohibitions are wider in scope than prohibitions against sex; ppl w/ whom one can have sex but not marry

rules for dissolution in almost all societies - more difficult w/ kids or bridewealth and dowries

family

prime mediator of social, financial, and political opportunities

ideal of democracy - citizens enjoy equal standing regardless of family status

a workplace discourse - calling your employees family to get more out of them

genealogy

hierarchies based on ancestry; lineages/dynasties claim to power

in the trad state, origin stories linked ruling dynasties to sacred or supernatural ancestors

politics of ancestry in the US

legal codes granted or restricted citizenship and civil rights based on ancestry - one drop rule, exclusion acts, and immigration quotes tied to national origins

shifting racial categories in the US census

ancestry and power

ancestry is an instrument of power - race too

ancestry as a construct

all genealogies are selective

kinship terms and naming practices designate some family members as more significant than others

motherhood age change

avg age of first time mothers

1980 - 22 yrs old

2016 - 26 yrs old

motherhood usually begins in 30s for most highly educated women

net worth

the capacity of parents to assist their adult children at critical times

how many white families receive an inheritance compared to black families?

¼ white families, 1/20 black families with a much smaller avg amount

kinship in tribal societies

most noticeable and powerful in tribal societies

determines who can marry who → basis of reciprocity and the division of labor for all forms of economic, religious, and political life

most important function - ownership of land

clans carry out distinct rituals

patronym

component of a personal name based on the given name of one’s father, grandfather, or an earlier male ancestor

matronym

component of personal name based on the given name of one’s mother, grandmother, or any female ancestor

tekonym

identified by a kin relationship - “father/other of so-and-so”

exogamy

require members of group to seek spouses outside of their own group - extension of the incest taboo

endogamy

requires individuals to marry w/in their own group and forbids them to marry beyond it. preserves separateness and exclusivity of groups.

neolocal residence

US couple sets up their own household

virilocal residence

live with groom’s parents

uxorilocal residence

live with the bride’s parents

avunculocal residence

wife joins husband who is living with his mother’s brother

unilineal descent

child can only belong to one clan

typically they go with the father’s clan and the mother joins in

patrilineal descent - child in father’s clan

matrilineal descent - child in mother’s clan

kinship system - 2 different orders of reality

1. the terms and relationships

2. prescribed behaviors; system of terms and attitudes

incest taboo

prohibits sex between certain category of close relatives

royal families often featured incest

Freud incest theory

at the dawn of human culture some rebellious sons killed their father → feeling remorse, they set up the first prohibitions by forbidding themselves the very women they had desired

Durkheim incest theory

related incest taboos to religious prohibitions concerning menstrual blood, linked symbolically in turn to the blood of the clan and the totem

Levi-Strauss incest taboo

the prohibition of incest is less a rule prohibiting marriage with the mother, sister, or daughter, than a rule obliging the mother, sister, or daughter to be given to other - women exchanged between clans/tribes

is kinship still important today?

yes, it plays a key role in urbanism

kinship from a structuralist point of view

• like phonemes

• acquire meaning in an integrated system

• prescribe behavior

what is kinship a discourse between?

biological and social