ANTH 1150 Lecture 8: Kinship & Family Structures
2 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Explain what kinship is and how kinship roles and relationships vary
cross-culturally
1.
Correctly use various technical terms, as well as diagrams related to
kinship theory
2.
Describe the structure of unilineal descent systems and explain how
patrilineality and matrilineality work
3.
Outline the various rules of descent and their influence on
corresponding types of kin group formation
4.
Distinguish the four basic systems of kinship terminology
5.
Diagrammatically illustrate kinship systems by charting the kinship
structures of specific ethnographic examples
6.
Distinguish the difference between the concepts of family and
household
7.
Explain how different household forms and the head of household
patterns are related to different social contexts
8.
Learning Outcomes:
However, kin relations go far beyond the level of small family
groupings to encompass much larger numbers of people
•
Kinship relations in many societies are simultaneously economic and
political and may even define religious concepts (e.g. ancestral
worship)
•
Note: study of kinship deals with how people regulate sexual activities
through different types of marriages, resulting in contrasting forms of
households and families
*see pages 197 and 200
○
Anthropologists use abbreviations and diagrams to classify different
kinship relations, which can also be illustrated by means of lines,
brackets or equal signs connecting circles and triangles
•
F = father
○
M = mother
○
B = brother
○
Z = sister
○
S = son
○
D = daughter
○
H = husband
○
W = wife
○
*see page 197
○
Kinship specialists also use abbreviations to denote kin relations based
on biological ties
•
A more scientific (objective) terminology would substitute terms
such as male partner for husband or female offspring for
daughter
○
Kinship terminology (kinship nomenclature) is the branch of
study of kinship which has to do with how people classify
various relatives
○
Kinship terminology only makes sense from the point of view
from an individual speaker (ego)
○
All kinship diagrams must indicate one person as ego so that all
relations can be labeled in relation to ego
○
These etic terms are conveniently taken from a sub-set of emic
categories, which happen to be used in most Western societies
•
Almost every language has a slightly different system, although
in many cases all one needs to do is translate each kinship term
from one language to another
○
Ex. The term "aunt" in some languages only applies to one's
father/mother's sister (not a woman married to an uncle)
○
Another common variation in kinship terminology is whether or
not one makes a formal distinction between older or younger
relatives
○
In some cultures cousins on your mother's side would be
called a different term than those on your father's site
!
Cousin terminology may also distinguish between male
and female
!
Another example would be how cousins are labeled
○
There are hundreds to ways of classifying one's relatives
•
Forms of Kinship and Principles of Descent
In North America, we use the lineal system of terminology
•
Indicates that we consider our lineal relatives (mother, grandmother,
granddaughter) to be unique and worthy of a category of all their own
•
In contrast, our collateral relatives are merged into a category within
each generation (uncle, aunt)
•
Each system of kinship terminology is more likely to be associated
with certain forms of descent and postmarital residence patterns,
although such associations are not completely predictable
•
Concept of descent groups in connection with bands and tribes are
introduced in Chapter 9 (pages 246-252)
•
Lineages and clans are discussed on pages 202-204
•
Kinship Terminology
Corporate and Non-Corporate Kin Groups
Corporate kin groups are mutually exclusive because they determine
ownership of land and whom one can or cannot marry
•
*see page 252
○
They function in the same manner as economic (but not kin-based)
corporations in urban Western societies
•
The lineage found in a tribal society is practically synonymous with an
extended family, except for the corporate nature of lineages
•
In fact, anthropologists believe that such kinship corporations or
descent groups originally developed in societies with a strong tendency
towards a consistent form of postmarital residence
•
Ex. If most large households were predominantly patrilocal, members
of several households who were closely related would eventually
develop a corporate identity, choose a leader and claim a common
territory
•
Eventually, as they get bigger, lineages may split up into smaller, more
manageable units
•
Some anthropologists refer to minimal and maximal lineages to
identify different levels of organization, especially in societies where
smaller lineages, resulting from splits, frequently joining together for
purposes of defense or collective work
•
Corporate Kin Groups
Clans, a broader, more comprehensive category consists of an even
larger number of lineages whose members also believe that they were
originally descended from a common ancestor
•
Lineages have a known ancestor (ex. Great grandfather), while
clans have a more distant, hypothetical ancestor which may even
take the form of a plant or animal which is the totem of the clan
○
Lineages are normally localized (local descent group), while
members of various lineages belonging to the same clan are
usually scattered through a wider territory
○
Think of clans as a kind of confederation to lineages, whose
members are symbolically related to each other and usually not
allowed to marry each other
○
These are called moieties
!
*see page 204
!
Some societies might only have two clans that divide the society
in half
○
Kinship corporations (i.e. clans and lineages) are usually
associated with ranking tribal societies, both pastoralists and
cultivators
○
Difference between clans and lineages:
•
This is the case for groups like Nuer in Sudan, which have
segmentary lineages
○
In those societies, order of birth also becomes very
important, since lineages originally founded by older
siblings have seniority over those founded by younger
siblings
!
The language of inequality used in those societies revolves
around the whole notion of main branches vs minor
branches of a kinship corporation
!
This sometimes becomes especially pronounced in
chiefdoms
!
On the other hand, in more hierarchical (ranking) societies, some
kinship corporations are more prestigious and powerful than
others
○
In more egalitarian societies, especially in the case of nomadic
pastoralists or tribal cultivators, each clan and lineage is generally
considered to be equal or equivalent
•
Clans and Lineages
In contrast to more permanent kinship corporations, a non-corporate
kin group (kindred) is a temporary group whose members get together
for only special occasions or for specific purposes (like organizing a
hunt or seeking revenge)
•
For all practical purposes, a kindred is synonymous with what most
North Americans would call their relatives
•
*see page 204-205
○
One way to picture this is to think of who you would invite to a
family wedding in terms of relatives
○
The text defines kindred as a group of consanguinal kin linked by their
relationship to one living individual, including both maternal and
paternal kin
•
Technically, a kindred refers to the network of kin any person
can theoretically mobilize or recruit to form special-purpose
groups
○
Its membership is not only temporary but usually overlaps
that of other kindreds; even close relatives are likely to
belong to different kindred
!
A kindred does not own joint property
!
That is a kindred is composed from the perspective
of an ego, as opposed to the lineal descent
relationship typical of kinship corporations
□
The only thing members of a special group have in
common is their connections with the person or small
group of people who recruit that group on any occasion
!
Other characteristic include:
○
Not all biologically related people occupy the same emotional space
•
Kindreds
Unilineal descent (patrilineal or matrilineal) does not mean groups of
men or women only
•
However, only a women's children and her daughter's children
can belong to her lineage or clan
○
However, the children of her son (both male and female) must
join his wife's matrilineage
○
A matrilineage consists of both women and men
•
Ex. Inhabitant of a village in the highlands of Papua New Guinea
is bound to belong to one of a specific number of lineages who
control all the land where people of the same lineage can farm
○
At the same time, that same person might get together for large
family gatherings which would include members of several
lineages
○
Many societies have both forms of kin groups
•
Lineage vs Gender
Kinship is the most basic principle of organizing individuals into
social groups, roles and categories
○
Some form of organization based on parentage and marriage is
present in every human society
○
In modern industrial communities family structures have been
weakened by the dominance of the market economy and the
provision of state organized social services
○
However, the nuclear family household is still the fundamental
institution responsible for rearing children and organizing
consumption
○
In non-industrial contexts, kinship units normally have a might
wider array of functions
○
They often serve as basic units of production, political
representation and even as religious bodies for the worship of
spiritual beings, who are themselves considered members of the
kin group
○
Yoruba of West Africa commemorate family ancestors in
the form of masked dances who become possessed by the
spirits of the dead to commune with their descendants
!
Ex. Yoruba Egunun Dancer
○
Introduction:
•
Sociobiologists take a reductionist position and see all family
institutions as conforming to a basic plan which reflects human
biological and evolutionary necessities
○
Relativists maintain that kinship has no intrinsic relation to
biology and is unlimited in its possible forms
○
Middle ground: kinship is constructed from a set of categories,
groups, relationships, and behaviours based upon culturally
determined beliefs and values concerning human biology and
reproduction
○
A lengthy infant maturation period that requires a major
commitment from one and usually both parents to nurture
and educate dependent children
!
The presence of a marital bond that creates an enduring
and socially regulated sexual and domestic relationship
between two or more people
!
Division of labor based on gender
!
A prohibition on intercourse and marriage between close
kin, which created a widely articulated network of
relationships between individuals related by marriage
!
Universal features of kinship systems:
○
Kinship is determined only according to links
through females in a matrilineal system
□
Trobian Islanders: maintain that the sex act has nothing to
do with a child's birth which is the result of impregnation
by the mother's ancestral totemic spirit
!
Therefore, a man's wife and mother usually belong
to the same lineage, creating a situation were
mothers are considered as in-laws (affinal relatives)
rather than biological (consanguineous) kin
□
Yanomamo: group people into localized patrilineages,
whose members regularly marry into the same groups
generation and generation
!
Cultures have different views about the "facts" of life and the
meaning of marriage, parentage and bird
○
Resulting network of people linked by marriage becomes
more than mere affines; they are transformed into kin in
both spirit and substance
!
Church applies standards to kinship to an individual's
baptismal sponsors (godparents) who are unrelated to the
child but who have entered into kinship through a shared
sacrement = fictive kinship
!
Catholic: marriage is seen as a literal union of the husband and
wide
○
Believe that everyone who bares the same name is the
descendant of a common ancestor
!
Residence rights and incest prohibitions are frequently
extended solely on the basis of people's names
!
San peoples of the Kalahari desert: development of strong ties on
the basis of fictive kinship provided by the "namesake kin"
system
○
Themes and Variations:
•
Circle = female
○
Triangle = male
○
Equal sign = marriage
○
Vertical line = descent or parentage
○
Horizontal line = sibling bond
○
*relationships are traced from a central individual, labelled "ego"
○
Kin Diagrams:
•
Extended bilateral network (=kindred) forms a recognized social
group, as in the case of many early medieval cultures
○
In non-contemporary European cultures, bilateral kinship is
dominant, but no recognizable groups are formed
○
In many non-Western societies emphasis is placed on exclusive
descent through male or female relatives as was also the case in
ancient Israel and Rome
○
These unilineal systems also recognize kinship relationships that
are not incorporated into direct male or female lines
○
Consanguineal kin = blood relatives
!
Affines/ affinal relatives = linked by own marriage or that
of their consanguines
!
Note:
○
Bilateral Kindred
•
"emic" classifications are specifically defined within a
cultural context
!
"etic" categories are used to describe and understand data
○
Lineal kin -direct ancestors or descendants of a particular Ego
○
Collateral kin -composed of Ego's siblings and their descendants
and the siblings his/her lineal skin of ascending generations and
their descendants as well
○
Lineal and Collateral Kin
•
Matrilateral kin = all family members related through Ego's
mother
○
Patrilateral kin = all family members related through Ego's father
○
Matrilateral = "spindle" side kin
!
Patrilateral = "spear" side group
!
In medival England,
○
Matrilateral and Patrilateral Kin
•
Patrilineal (agnatic) = relatives are identified by tracing descent
exclusively through males from a founding male ancestor
○
Matrilineal (uterine) = relatives are identified by tracing descent
exclusively through females from a founding female ancestor
○
(vs. parallel cousins -children of the same sexed
sibling)
□
Ex. Cross cousins -children of the opposite sexed sibling
!
*there are kin on each side that are neither patrilineal or
matrilineal = cross relatives
○
Matrilinear and Patrilineal Kin
•
Patrilineal societies are more common that matrilineal ones
(60% vs 30% of all unilineal systems; and 40% descent
systems)
!
Ancient Greek and Roman family organization
□
Bible -"tribes" of Israel were patrilineages
!
Matrilineal systems are less frequent but are still
ethnographically important ( Ex. West African Ashanti
kingdom)
!
*dual descent is rare (presence of patrilineal and
matrilineal groupings in single society)
!
Unilinear systems -descent is traced through parents and
ancestors of only one sex
○
Cognatic systems -descent can be traced through either or both
parents
○
Descent Systems:
•
Ancient Hebrews
○
Igbo of Nigeria
○
Turkish Villagers
○
Yanomamo of the Amazon
○
Patrilineal Descent:
•
Akan Matrilineal Structures
○
Matrilineal Descent:
•
Lineage: unilineal descent group whose members trace
their descent from a common ancestor through an accepted
sequence of known linking antecedents
!
Segment: larger units are subdivided into smaller
components via branching or segmentation
!
Clans: unilineal descent group whose members do not
trace genealogical links to a supposedly historical founding
ancestor
!
Moieties: occurrence of descent groups in linked pairs
which assume complementary positions and functions
!
Common types of groups:
○
Dual Descent:
•
Territorial organization
○
Land ownership
○
Inheritance
○
Marriage regulation
○
Social control
○
Political representation
○
Feud support
○
Ritual observance
○
Possible Functions:
•
Bilateral descent groups (stocks) -society is organized on
the basis of bilateral descent from recognized ancestors
!
Kindred -ego focused networks that extend through both
parents and their bilateral kin
!
Bilateral systems -involve inclusion of all an individual's
relatives within a given range
○
Ambilineal systems -involve an exclusive selection of
membership in a father's or mother's group, usually upon
adulthood
○
Cognatic Kinship Structures:
•
Kinship Tutorial
Patrilineal rule
□
Matrilineal rule
□
This is the unilineal rule, sub-divided into two categories
!
A society can be very systematic (but restrictive) and always
trace descent, or kin connections, through one line (sex) only
*read pages 196-202
○
A society can have a more flexible rule, ambilineal descent
which allows for the tracing of descent through wither the male
line or the female line based on the choice of the person
○
Regardless of the form of kin groups found in any particular society,
there are only so many rules of kinship reckoning one can logically use
to determine membership, trace descent or for whatever purpose one
wants
•
This does not mean that all your blood relatives will belong to
the same lineage -only that membership in the kinship
corporation is determined by a consistent rule which
automatically restricts membership of certain relatives according
to the gender of their parents
○
In a society with kinship corporations (lineages) which uses the
unilineal principle, this principle is used to define membership in all
lineages
•
Because kinship corporations are mutually exclusive,
membership of closely related relatives is restricted not on the
basis of an automatic rule related to the sex of one's parents, but
rather on the basis of residence
○
In other words, although someone has the right to join any
number of lineages (as long as they have a kinship connection to
them), that person retains an active membership in only one
lineage by virtue of the place they choose to live and work
○
In most cases, you can assume that lineages are exogamous: a person
has to marry someone from another lineage, because members of your
own lineage are considered to be closely related
•
They are therefore excluded from lineage (and clan) membership
by virtue of where they reside
○
If a person living in his father's lineage decides to move to (and
cultivate land in) his or her mother's lineage (usually, but not always
after marriage), they can no longer have full membership rights in their
father's lineage
•
There are many more forms of kinship, many of them rare or not
yet well known or understood
○
Double descent (pages 201-202) which is found among the Yako
of Nigeria and some other groups is a rare form of unilineal
descent which consistently uses both the patrilineal and
matrilineal principles simultaneously but for different reasons
○
For a long time anthropologists though that all societies with descent
groups has to either be matrilineal or patrilineal, until they realized that
there ware other ways of organizing kinship corporations
•
Patrilineage might be used to regulate ownership of land, while
the matrilineage would be a separate kinship corporation in
charge of regulating who inherits cattle, or used for purely
religious purposes
○
If such a society is characterized by predominantly patrilocal
post-martial residence, the members of the same matrilineage are
more likely to be scattered over different villages
○
These two types of kinship organizations (with overlapping
memberships) have very different functions
•
Principles (Rules) of Descent
Many kin based (non state-level) societies have other forms of group
formation, including age-sets, age-grades, village councils and pan-
tribal sodalities (secrete societies)
•
These forms of social organization, more commonly associated
with state-level societies, including systems based on caste (see
pages 232-235) and fictive kinship (see page 195)
○
Other forms of social organization and group formation are closely
related to kinship
•
Other Forms of Social Organization in Non-state Societies
There are some variations from these ideal types but a surprising
number of cultures conform to the types outlined in text
○
*see pages 209-212
○
= Eskimo or Inuit system
!
North Americans are most familiar with a system that recognizes
our relatives on both our mothers and fathers site
○
Note: Hawaiian system has fewest number of kin in terms as all
aunts and uncles are referred to as mother and father, and all
cousins are referred to as brothers and sisters
○
Most human cultures observe a kinship system that is one of six basic
types
•
Also, certain aunts and uncles are not even considered to be
related
○
While the siblings of the parents are considered related their
spouses are not
○
In some societies (such as Iroquois) certain cousins are labeled as
brothers and sisters while others have different terms
•
Differences reflect whether society is bilateral or unilinear,
patrilineal or matrilineal
○
We can see from these variations that kinship is as much about
social categories as it is about biological relationships
○
Every culture determines the significance of a relationship
sometimes excluding people of equal biological closeness
○
Six systems are named after cultures where they were observed
•
Kinship Systems
However, many households may include people who are not
family members
○
In some societies, members of the same family may not even live
in the same house or eat together
○
It may seem self-evident that when a couple gets married they will set
up a household, and that when they begin having children, they will
start a new family
•
Anthropologists distinguish between marriage as a relationship, the
family as a kinship group and the household as a group of people with
different economic tasks and responsibilities
•
Explaining this form of cultural diversity is one of the main tasks
of anthropologists specializing in the study of kinship and the
family
○
One important factor is ecological adaptation, and another is
gender relations
○
One cannot really understand any form of marriage, family, or
household without taking into account the different systems of
descent and larger, non-family kinship groups as they have
developed over time
○
Marriages, families and households can take on many different forms,
each of which can be classified in terms of typologies
•
Household and Family
Neolocal = set up new household of their own
○
Patrilocal = move in with husband's father's family
○
Matrilocal = move in with wife's mother's fmaily
○
Avunculocal postmarital residence = join household of the
brother of the man's mother
○
Household is often described as the group of people who sleep under
the same rood and who share cooking facilities
•
Classification of households in terms of residence can get
complicated
○
If a society has a very strict rule that a couple has to move in
with either side of the family or the other (matrilocal/patrilocal),
both types of residence can be labeled as unilocal
○
If the couple is free to live with either side = bilocal (ambilocal)
○
One could emphasize the husband or the wide as the person with whom
someone goes to live after marriage
•
= matri-neolocal
○
In some societies, a couple may first go live with the wife's parents
(where a man has to perform bride service) and then they will move
out and set up household of their own
•
In many cases, these rules of post-marital residence are norms or
guides for behaviour
•
To ascertain basic unit of economic cooperation (or who tend to
work together), ask people whose decision on any important
household matter would take precedence in case of competing
demands
○
Ex. North America middle-class families: woman would side
with husband rather than with her mother
○
Systematic (statistical) comparisons of different societies have
led anthropologists to conclude that the predominant form of
post-marital residence in any society is largely dependent on the
nature of the system of production, which in turn reflects
ecological adaptations
○
Four main kinds of post-marital residence patterns and corresponding
household strucutre depends on basic unit of economic cooperation:
•
The Household
In a society where women do most of the farming, where
daughters generally learn about soil conditions and planting
techniques from their mothers, and where men are frequently
away from home on hunting expedition, one is more likely to
find matrilocal residences
○
In pastoral nomadic societies, where fathers and sons work closely
together, women almost invariably move into a household already
established by her husband's father (patrilocal)
•
Big game hunters, where sons not only learn to hunt from their fathers,
but continue to do so even after they are married, are also
predominantly patrilocal
•
Foragers who engage in more diversified hunting activities are more
likely to practice bilocal residence, as does any society which needs
greater flexibility in terms of where couples go to live after marriage
•
Residency & Mode of Production
Large block like systems created by descent patterns tend to get
eroded by the more flexible and more network like systems like
our own
○
Functions carry out by these blocks are taken by others
○
Economic changes, political changes --> breaks up independent
ties between kin
○
Kinship falls away due to market
!
No longer need to rely on kin for help in production and
distribution of good
○
No longer dependent on parents
○
Can disinherent children
!
No longer essential to have children
!
Social mobility
○
Rise of banks -break up descent groups
○
Did not have to make defense system through kinship
systems
!
Military organization -> waging war
○
Perishable and irregular
!
Difficulties are dealt with by other forces
!
Harvests --> depend on kinship no longer
○
Gradually growth of Western family model over the world
○
Clan systems are broken down
○
Destruction of peasant economy
○
--> rise of nationalism
○
Ex. Mafia in organized crime
!
Lineage ties still remain important in both urban and industrial
settings
○
Watch: Erosion of the Power of Kinship Systems
•
There are many forms of extended families, depending on
whether or not the nuclear family is expanded to include married
siblings, several generations, or multiple spouses
○
*see pages 183-188
○
There are many technical terms for various forms of extended
families, such as collateral families and stem families
○
One can also talk about polygamous families
○
When focusing on the family, as a kin group resulting from a certain
type of marriage, anthropologists tend to use such terms as the nuclear
or the extended family
•
It is hard to determine when two closely-connected nuclear
families become an extended family
○
These are all typologies based on binary oppositions introduced by
anthropologists
•
Situations where the nuclear family is the only social
group whose members always stay together, even though
this nuclear family is always a part of a larger household
whose respective nuclear family units are always moving
back and forth between different bands
!
Situations where a couple constitutes a completely
independent neolocal household (urban industrial
societies)
!
When used in this sense, one can still distinguish between two
types of societies, each characterized by nuclear family mobility:
○
The term nuclear family is sometimes used to refer to the basic
building block for all other types of families, including extended
families
•
The fact that nuclear family mobility is common to both urban,
industrial societies and band-level hunters and gatherers illustrates the
dangers of simplistic evolutionary typologies
•
19th century Ontario farm families demonstrated extended
families with generally 3 generations living under one roof
○
In most cases, the extended family is synonymous with a large
household, especially if the definition for household is expanded to
include close relatives who live in close proximity or share a common
courtyard
•
The Family
Kinship & Family Structures
Friday,*March*9,*2018
6:17*PM
Explain what kinship is and how kinship roles and relationships vary
cross-culturally
1.
Correctly use various technical terms, as well as diagrams related to
kinship theory
2.
Describe the structure of unilineal descent systems and explain how
patrilineality and matrilineality work
3.
Outline the various rules of descent and their influence on
corresponding types of kin group formation
4.
Distinguish the four basic systems of kinship terminology5.
Diagrammatically illustrate kinship systems by charting the kinship
structures of specific ethnographic examples
6.
Distinguish the difference between the concepts of family and
household
7.
Explain how different household forms and the head of household
patterns are related to different social contexts
8.
Learning Outcomes:
However, kin relations go far beyond the level of small family
groupings to encompass much larger numbers of people
•
Kinship relations in many societies are simultaneously economic and
political and may even define religious concepts (e.g. ancestral
worship)
•
Note: study of kinship deals with how people regulate sexual activities
through different types of marriages, resulting in contrasting forms of
households and families
*see pages 197 and 200
○
Anthropologists use abbreviations and diagrams to classify different
kinship relations, which can also be illustrated by means of lines,
brackets or equal signs connecting circles and triangles
•
F = father
○
M = mother
○
B = brother
○
Z = sister
○
S = son
○
D = daughter
○
H = husband
○
W = wife
○
*see page 197
○
Kinship specialists also use abbreviations to denote kin relations based
on biological ties
•
A more scientific (objective) terminology would substitute terms
such as male partner for husband or female offspring for
daughter
○
Kinship terminology (kinship nomenclature) is the branch of
study of kinship which has to do with how people classify
various relatives
○
Kinship terminology only makes sense from the point of view
from an individual speaker (ego)
○
All kinship diagrams must indicate one person as ego so that all
relations can be labeled in relation to ego
○
These etic terms are conveniently taken from a sub-set of emic
categories, which happen to be used in most Western societies
•
Almost every language has a slightly different system, although
in many cases all one needs to do is translate each kinship term
from one language to another
○
Ex. The term "aunt" in some languages only applies to one's
father/mother's sister (not a woman married to an uncle)
○
Another common variation in kinship terminology is whether or
not one makes a formal distinction between older or younger
relatives
○
In some cultures cousins on your mother's side would be
called a different term than those on your father's site
!
Cousin terminology may also distinguish between male
and female
!
Another example would be how cousins are labeled
○
There are hundreds to ways of classifying one's relatives
•
Forms of Kinship and Principles of Descent
In North America, we use the lineal system of terminology
•
Indicates that we consider our lineal relatives (mother, grandmother,
granddaughter) to be unique and worthy of a category of all their own
•
In contrast, our collateral relatives are merged into a category within
each generation (uncle, aunt)
•
Each system of kinship terminology is more likely to be associated
with certain forms of descent and postmarital residence patterns,
although such associations are not completely predictable
•
Concept of descent groups in connection with bands and tribes are
introduced in Chapter 9 (pages 246-252)
•
Lineages and clans are discussed on pages 202-204
•
Kinship Terminology
Corporate and Non-Corporate Kin Groups
Corporate kin groups are mutually exclusive because they determine
ownership of land and whom one can or cannot marry
•
*see page 252
○
They function in the same manner as economic (but not kin-based)
corporations in urban Western societies
•
The lineage found in a tribal society is practically synonymous with an
extended family, except for the corporate nature of lineages
•
In fact, anthropologists believe that such kinship corporations or
descent groups originally developed in societies with a strong tendency
towards a consistent form of postmarital residence
•
Ex. If most large households were predominantly patrilocal, members
of several households who were closely related would eventually
develop a corporate identity, choose a leader and claim a common
territory
•
Eventually, as they get bigger, lineages may split up into smaller, more
manageable units
•
Some anthropologists refer to minimal and maximal lineages to
identify different levels of organization, especially in societies where
smaller lineages, resulting from splits, frequently joining together for
purposes of defense or collective work
•
Corporate Kin Groups
Clans, a broader, more comprehensive category consists of an even
larger number of lineages whose members also believe that they were
originally descended from a common ancestor
•
Lineages have a known ancestor (ex. Great grandfather), while
clans have a more distant, hypothetical ancestor which may even
take the form of a plant or animal which is the totem of the clan
○
Lineages are normally localized (local descent group), while
members of various lineages belonging to the same clan are
usually scattered through a wider territory
○
Think of clans as a kind of confederation to lineages, whose
members are symbolically related to each other and usually not
allowed to marry each other
○
These are called moieties
!
*see page 204
!
Some societies might only have two clans that divide the society
in half
○
Kinship corporations (i.e. clans and lineages) are usually
associated with ranking tribal societies, both pastoralists and
cultivators
○
Difference between clans and lineages:
•
This is the case for groups like Nuer in Sudan, which have
segmentary lineages
○
In those societies, order of birth also becomes very
important, since lineages originally founded by older
siblings have seniority over those founded by younger
siblings
!
The language of inequality used in those societies revolves
around the whole notion of main branches vs minor
branches of a kinship corporation
!
This sometimes becomes especially pronounced in
chiefdoms
!
On the other hand, in more hierarchical (ranking) societies, some
kinship corporations are more prestigious and powerful than
others
○
In more egalitarian societies, especially in the case of nomadic
pastoralists or tribal cultivators, each clan and lineage is generally
considered to be equal or equivalent
•
Clans and Lineages
In contrast to more permanent kinship corporations, a non-corporate
kin group (kindred) is a temporary group whose members get together
for only special occasions or for specific purposes (like organizing a
hunt or seeking revenge)
•
For all practical purposes, a kindred is synonymous with what most
North Americans would call their relatives
•
*see page 204-205
○
One way to picture this is to think of who you would invite to a
family wedding in terms of relatives
○
The text defines kindred as a group of consanguinal kin linked by their
relationship to one living individual, including both maternal and
paternal kin
•
Technically, a kindred refers to the network of kin any person
can theoretically mobilize or recruit to form special-purpose
groups
○
Its membership is not only temporary but usually overlaps
that of other kindreds; even close relatives are likely to
belong to different kindred
!
A kindred does not own joint property
!
That is a kindred is composed from the perspective
of an ego, as opposed to the lineal descent
relationship typical of kinship corporations
□
The only thing members of a special group have in
common is their connections with the person or small
group of people who recruit that group on any occasion
!
Other characteristic include:
○
Not all biologically related people occupy the same emotional space
•
Kindreds
Unilineal descent (patrilineal or matrilineal) does not mean groups of
men or women only
•
However, only a women's children and her daughter's children
can belong to her lineage or clan
○
However, the children of her son (both male and female) must
join his wife's matrilineage
○
A matrilineage consists of both women and men
•
Ex. Inhabitant of a village in the highlands of Papua New Guinea
is bound to belong to one of a specific number of lineages who
control all the land where people of the same lineage can farm
○
At the same time, that same person might get together for large
family gatherings which would include members of several
lineages
○
Many societies have both forms of kin groups
•
Lineage vs Gender
Kinship is the most basic principle of organizing individuals into
social groups, roles and categories
○
Some form of organization based on parentage and marriage is
present in every human society
○
In modern industrial communities family structures have been
weakened by the dominance of the market economy and the
provision of state organized social services
○
However, the nuclear family household is still the fundamental
institution responsible for rearing children and organizing
consumption
○
In non-industrial contexts, kinship units normally have a might
wider array of functions
○
They often serve as basic units of production, political
representation and even as religious bodies for the worship of
spiritual beings, who are themselves considered members of the
kin group
○
Yoruba of West Africa commemorate family ancestors in
the form of masked dances who become possessed by the
spirits of the dead to commune with their descendants
!
Ex. Yoruba Egunun Dancer
○
Introduction:
•
Sociobiologists take a reductionist position and see all family
institutions as conforming to a basic plan which reflects human
biological and evolutionary necessities
○
Relativists maintain that kinship has no intrinsic relation to
biology and is unlimited in its possible forms
○
Middle ground: kinship is constructed from a set of categories,
groups, relationships, and behaviours based upon culturally
determined beliefs and values concerning human biology and
reproduction
○
A lengthy infant maturation period that requires a major
commitment from one and usually both parents to nurture
and educate dependent children
!
The presence of a marital bond that creates an enduring
and socially regulated sexual and domestic relationship
between two or more people
!
Division of labor based on gender
!
A prohibition on intercourse and marriage between close
kin, which created a widely articulated network of
relationships between individuals related by marriage
!
Universal features of kinship systems:
○
Kinship is determined only according to links
through females in a matrilineal system
□
Trobian Islanders: maintain that the sex act has nothing to
do with a child's birth which is the result of impregnation
by the mother's ancestral totemic spirit
!
Therefore, a man's wife and mother usually belong
to the same lineage, creating a situation were
mothers are considered as in-laws (affinal relatives)
rather than biological (consanguineous) kin
□
Yanomamo: group people into localized patrilineages,
whose members regularly marry into the same groups
generation and generation
!
Cultures have different views about the "facts" of life and the
meaning of marriage, parentage and bird
○
Resulting network of people linked by marriage becomes
more than mere affines; they are transformed into kin in
both spirit and substance
!
Church applies standards to kinship to an individual's
baptismal sponsors (godparents) who are unrelated to the
child but who have entered into kinship through a shared
sacrement = fictive kinship
!
Catholic: marriage is seen as a literal union of the husband and
wide
○
Believe that everyone who bares the same name is the
descendant of a common ancestor
!
Residence rights and incest prohibitions are frequently
extended solely on the basis of people's names
!
San peoples of the Kalahari desert: development of strong ties on
the basis of fictive kinship provided by the "namesake kin"
system
○
Themes and Variations:
•
Circle = female
○
Triangle = male
○
Equal sign = marriage
○
Vertical line = descent or parentage
○
Horizontal line = sibling bond
○
*relationships are traced from a central individual, labelled "ego"
○
Kin Diagrams:
•
Extended bilateral network (=kindred) forms a recognized social
group, as in the case of many early medieval cultures
○
In non-contemporary European cultures, bilateral kinship is
dominant, but no recognizable groups are formed
○
In many non-Western societies emphasis is placed on exclusive
descent through male or female relatives as was also the case in
ancient Israel and Rome
○
These unilineal systems also recognize kinship relationships that
are not incorporated into direct male or female lines
○
Consanguineal kin = blood relatives
!
Affines/ affinal relatives = linked by own marriage or that
of their consanguines
!
Note:
○
Bilateral Kindred
•
"emic" classifications are specifically defined within a
cultural context
!
"etic" categories are used to describe and understand data
○
Lineal kin -direct ancestors or descendants of a particular Ego
○
Collateral kin -composed of Ego's siblings and their descendants
and the siblings his/her lineal skin of ascending generations and
their descendants as well
○
Lineal and Collateral Kin
•
Matrilateral kin = all family members related through Ego's
mother
○
Patrilateral kin = all family members related through Ego's father
○
Matrilateral = "spindle" side kin
!
Patrilateral = "spear" side group
!
In medival England,
○
Matrilateral and Patrilateral Kin
•
Patrilineal (agnatic) = relatives are identified by tracing descent
exclusively through males from a founding male ancestor
○
Matrilineal (uterine) = relatives are identified by tracing descent
exclusively through females from a founding female ancestor
○
(vs. parallel cousins -children of the same sexed
sibling)
□
Ex. Cross cousins -children of the opposite sexed sibling
!
*there are kin on each side that are neither patrilineal or
matrilineal = cross relatives
○
Matrilinear and Patrilineal Kin
•
Patrilineal societies are more common that matrilineal ones
(60% vs 30% of all unilineal systems; and 40% descent
systems)
!
Ancient Greek and Roman family organization
□
Bible -"tribes" of Israel were patrilineages
!
Matrilineal systems are less frequent but are still
ethnographically important ( Ex. West African Ashanti
kingdom)
!
*dual descent is rare (presence of patrilineal and
matrilineal groupings in single society)
!
Unilinear systems -descent is traced through parents and
ancestors of only one sex
○
Cognatic systems -descent can be traced through either or both
parents
○
Descent Systems:
•
Ancient Hebrews
○
Igbo of Nigeria
○
Turkish Villagers
○
Yanomamo of the Amazon
○
Patrilineal Descent:
•
Akan Matrilineal Structures
○
Matrilineal Descent:
•
Lineage: unilineal descent group whose members trace
their descent from a common ancestor through an accepted
sequence of known linking antecedents
!
Segment: larger units are subdivided into smaller
components via branching or segmentation
!
Clans: unilineal descent group whose members do not
trace genealogical links to a supposedly historical founding
ancestor
!
Moieties: occurrence of descent groups in linked pairs
which assume complementary positions and functions
!
Common types of groups:
○
Dual Descent:
•
Territorial organization
○
Land ownership
○
Inheritance
○
Marriage regulation
○
Social control
○
Political representation
○
Feud support
○
Ritual observance
○
Possible Functions:
•
Bilateral descent groups (stocks) -society is organized on
the basis of bilateral descent from recognized ancestors
!
Kindred -ego focused networks that extend through both
parents and their bilateral kin
!
Bilateral systems -involve inclusion of all an individual's
relatives within a given range
○
Ambilineal systems -involve an exclusive selection of
membership in a father's or mother's group, usually upon
adulthood
○
Cognatic Kinship Structures:
•
Kinship Tutorial
Patrilineal rule
□
Matrilineal rule
□
This is the unilineal rule, sub-divided into two categories
!
A society can be very systematic (but restrictive) and always
trace descent, or kin connections, through one line (sex) only
*read pages 196-202
○
A society can have a more flexible rule, ambilineal descent
which allows for the tracing of descent through wither the male
line or the female line based on the choice of the person
○
Regardless of the form of kin groups found in any particular society,
there are only so many rules of kinship reckoning one can logically use
to determine membership, trace descent or for whatever purpose one
wants
•
This does not mean that all your blood relatives will belong to
the same lineage -only that membership in the kinship
corporation is determined by a consistent rule which
automatically restricts membership of certain relatives according
to the gender of their parents
○
In a society with kinship corporations (lineages) which uses the
unilineal principle, this principle is used to define membership in all
lineages
•
Because kinship corporations are mutually exclusive,
membership of closely related relatives is restricted not on the
basis of an automatic rule related to the sex of one's parents, but
rather on the basis of residence
○
In other words, although someone has the right to join any
number of lineages (as long as they have a kinship connection to
them), that person retains an active membership in only one
lineage by virtue of the place they choose to live and work
○
In most cases, you can assume that lineages are exogamous: a person
has to marry someone from another lineage, because members of your
own lineage are considered to be closely related
•
They are therefore excluded from lineage (and clan) membership
by virtue of where they reside
○
If a person living in his father's lineage decides to move to (and
cultivate land in) his or her mother's lineage (usually, but not always
after marriage), they can no longer have full membership rights in their
father's lineage
•
There are many more forms of kinship, many of them rare or not
yet well known or understood
○
Double descent (pages 201-202) which is found among the Yako
of Nigeria and some other groups is a rare form of unilineal
descent which consistently uses both the patrilineal and
matrilineal principles simultaneously but for different reasons
○
For a long time anthropologists though that all societies with descent
groups has to either be matrilineal or patrilineal, until they realized that
there ware other ways of organizing kinship corporations
•
Patrilineage might be used to regulate ownership of land, while
the matrilineage would be a separate kinship corporation in
charge of regulating who inherits cattle, or used for purely
religious purposes
○
If such a society is characterized by predominantly patrilocal
post-martial residence, the members of the same matrilineage are
more likely to be scattered over different villages
○
These two types of kinship organizations (with overlapping
memberships) have very different functions
•
Principles (Rules) of Descent
Many kin based (non state-level) societies have other forms of group
formation, including age-sets, age-grades, village councils and pan-
tribal sodalities (secrete societies)
•
These forms of social organization, more commonly associated
with state-level societies, including systems based on caste (see
pages 232-235) and fictive kinship (see page 195)
○
Other forms of social organization and group formation are closely
related to kinship
•
Other Forms of Social Organization in Non-state Societies
There are some variations from these ideal types but a surprising
number of cultures conform to the types outlined in text
○
*see pages 209-212
○
= Eskimo or Inuit system
!
North Americans are most familiar with a system that recognizes
our relatives on both our mothers and fathers site
○
Note: Hawaiian system has fewest number of kin in terms as all
aunts and uncles are referred to as mother and father, and all
cousins are referred to as brothers and sisters
○
Most human cultures observe a kinship system that is one of six basic
types
•
Also, certain aunts and uncles are not even considered to be
related
○
While the siblings of the parents are considered related their
spouses are not
○
In some societies (such as Iroquois) certain cousins are labeled as
brothers and sisters while others have different terms
•
Differences reflect whether society is bilateral or unilinear,
patrilineal or matrilineal
○
We can see from these variations that kinship is as much about
social categories as it is about biological relationships
○
Every culture determines the significance of a relationship
sometimes excluding people of equal biological closeness
○
Six systems are named after cultures where they were observed
•
Kinship Systems
However, many households may include people who are not
family members
○
In some societies, members of the same family may not even live
in the same house or eat together
○
It may seem self-evident that when a couple gets married they will set
up a household, and that when they begin having children, they will
start a new family
•
Anthropologists distinguish between marriage as a relationship, the
family as a kinship group and the household as a group of people with
different economic tasks and responsibilities
•
Explaining this form of cultural diversity is one of the main tasks
of anthropologists specializing in the study of kinship and the
family
○
One important factor is ecological adaptation, and another is
gender relations
○
One cannot really understand any form of marriage, family, or
household without taking into account the different systems of
descent and larger, non-family kinship groups as they have
developed over time
○
Marriages, families and households can take on many different forms,
each of which can be classified in terms of typologies
•
Household and Family
Neolocal = set up new household of their own
○
Patrilocal = move in with husband's father's family
○
Matrilocal = move in with wife's mother's fmaily
○
Avunculocal postmarital residence = join household of the
brother of the man's mother
○
Household is often described as the group of people who sleep under
the same rood and who share cooking facilities
•
Classification of households in terms of residence can get
complicated
○
If a society has a very strict rule that a couple has to move in
with either side of the family or the other (matrilocal/patrilocal),
both types of residence can be labeled as unilocal
○
If the couple is free to live with either side = bilocal (ambilocal)
○
One could emphasize the husband or the wide as the person with whom
someone goes to live after marriage
•
= matri-neolocal
○
In some societies, a couple may first go live with the wife's parents
(where a man has to perform bride service) and then they will move
out and set up household of their own
•
In many cases, these rules of post-marital residence are norms or
guides for behaviour
•
To ascertain basic unit of economic cooperation (or who tend to
work together), ask people whose decision on any important
household matter would take precedence in case of competing
demands
○
Ex. North America middle-class families: woman would side
with husband rather than with her mother
○
Systematic (statistical) comparisons of different societies have
led anthropologists to conclude that the predominant form of
post-marital residence in any society is largely dependent on the
nature of the system of production, which in turn reflects
ecological adaptations
○
Four main kinds of post-marital residence patterns and corresponding
household strucutre depends on basic unit of economic cooperation:
•
The Household
In a society where women do most of the farming, where
daughters generally learn about soil conditions and planting
techniques from their mothers, and where men are frequently
away from home on hunting expedition, one is more likely to
find matrilocal residences
○
In pastoral nomadic societies, where fathers and sons work closely
together, women almost invariably move into a household already
established by her husband's father (patrilocal)
•
Big game hunters, where sons not only learn to hunt from their fathers,
but continue to do so even after they are married, are also
predominantly patrilocal
•
Foragers who engage in more diversified hunting activities are more
likely to practice bilocal residence, as does any society which needs
greater flexibility in terms of where couples go to live after marriage
•
Residency & Mode of Production
Large block like systems created by descent patterns tend to get
eroded by the more flexible and more network like systems like
our own
○
Functions carry out by these blocks are taken by others
○
Economic changes, political changes --> breaks up independent
ties between kin
○
Kinship falls away due to market
!
No longer need to rely on kin for help in production and
distribution of good
○
No longer dependent on parents
○
Can disinherent children
!
No longer essential to have children
!
Social mobility
○
Rise of banks -break up descent groups
○
Did not have to make defense system through kinship
systems
!
Military organization -> waging war
○
Perishable and irregular
!
Difficulties are dealt with by other forces
!
Harvests --> depend on kinship no longer
○
Gradually growth of Western family model over the world
○
Clan systems are broken down
○
Destruction of peasant economy
○
--> rise of nationalism
○
Ex. Mafia in organized crime
!
Lineage ties still remain important in both urban and industrial
settings
○
Watch: Erosion of the Power of Kinship Systems
•
There are many forms of extended families, depending on
whether or not the nuclear family is expanded to include married
siblings, several generations, or multiple spouses
○
*see pages 183-188
○
There are many technical terms for various forms of extended
families, such as collateral families and stem families
○
One can also talk about polygamous families
○
When focusing on the family, as a kin group resulting from a certain
type of marriage, anthropologists tend to use such terms as the nuclear
or the extended family
•
It is hard to determine when two closely-connected nuclear
families become an extended family
○
These are all typologies based on binary oppositions introduced by
anthropologists
•
Situations where the nuclear family is the only social
group whose members always stay together, even though
this nuclear family is always a part of a larger household
whose respective nuclear family units are always moving
back and forth between different bands
!
Situations where a couple constitutes a completely
independent neolocal household (urban industrial
societies)
!
When used in this sense, one can still distinguish between two
types of societies, each characterized by nuclear family mobility:
○
The term nuclear family is sometimes used to refer to the basic
building block for all other types of families, including extended
families
•
The fact that nuclear family mobility is common to both urban,
industrial societies and band-level hunters and gatherers illustrates the
dangers of simplistic evolutionary typologies
•
19th century Ontario farm families demonstrated extended
families with generally 3 generations living under one roof
○
In most cases, the extended family is synonymous with a large
household, especially if the definition for household is expanded to
include close relatives who live in close proximity or share a common
courtyard
•
The Family
Kinship & Family Structures
Friday,*March*9,*2018 6:17*PM
Explain what kinship is and how kinship roles and relationships vary
cross-culturally
1.
Correctly use various technical terms, as well as diagrams related to
kinship theory
2.
Describe the structure of unilineal descent systems and explain how
patrilineality and matrilineality work
3.
Outline the various rules of descent and their influence on
corresponding types of kin group formation
4.
Distinguish the four basic systems of kinship terminology5.
Diagrammatically illustrate kinship systems by charting the kinship
structures of specific ethnographic examples
6.
Distinguish the difference between the concepts of family and
household
7.
Explain how different household forms and the head of household
patterns are related to different social contexts
8.
Learning Outcomes:
However, kin relations go far beyond the level of small family
groupings to encompass much larger numbers of people
•
Kinship relations in many societies are simultaneously economic and
political and may even define religious concepts (e.g. ancestral
worship)
•
Note: study of kinship deals with how people regulate sexual activities
through different types of marriages, resulting in contrasting forms of
households and families
*see pages 197 and 200
○
Anthropologists use abbreviations and diagrams to classify different
kinship relations, which can also be illustrated by means of lines,
brackets or equal signs connecting circles and triangles
•
F = father
○
M = mother
○
B = brother
○
Z = sister
○
S = son
○
D = daughter
○
H = husband
○
W = wife
○
*see page 197
○
Kinship specialists also use abbreviations to denote kin relations based
on biological ties
•
A more scientific (objective) terminology would substitute terms
such as male partner for husband or female offspring for
daughter
○
Kinship terminology (kinship nomenclature) is the branch of
study of kinship which has to do with how people classify
various relatives
○
Kinship terminology only makes sense from the point of view
from an individual speaker (ego)
○
All kinship diagrams must indicate one person as ego so that all
relations can be labeled in relation to ego
○
These etic terms are conveniently taken from a sub-set of emic
categories, which happen to be used in most Western societies
•
Almost every language has a slightly different system, although
in many cases all one needs to do is translate each kinship term
from one language to another
○
Ex. The term "aunt" in some languages only applies to one's
father/mother's sister (not a woman married to an uncle)
○
Another common variation in kinship terminology is whether or
not one makes a formal distinction between older or younger
relatives
○
In some cultures cousins on your mother's side would be
called a different term than those on your father's site
!
Cousin terminology may also distinguish between male
and female
!
Another example would be how cousins are labeled
○
There are hundreds to ways of classifying one's relatives
•
Forms of Kinship and Principles of Descent
In North America, we use the lineal system of terminology
•
Indicates that we consider our lineal relatives (mother, grandmother,
granddaughter) to be unique and worthy of a category of all their own
•
In contrast, our collateral relatives are merged into a category within
each generation (uncle, aunt)
•
Each system of kinship terminology is more likely to be associated
with certain forms of descent and postmarital residence patterns,
although such associations are not completely predictable
•
Concept of descent groups in connection with bands and tribes are
introduced in Chapter 9 (pages 246-252)
•
Lineages and clans are discussed on pages 202-204
•
Kinship Terminology
Corporate and Non-Corporate Kin Groups
Corporate kin groups are mutually exclusive because they determine
ownership of land and whom one can or cannot marry
•
*see page 252
○
They function in the same manner as economic (but not kin-based)
corporations in urban Western societies
•
The lineage found in a tribal society is practically synonymous with an
extended family, except for the corporate nature of lineages
•
In fact, anthropologists believe that such kinship corporations or
descent groups originally developed in societies with a strong tendency
towards a consistent form of postmarital residence
•
Ex. If most large households were predominantly patrilocal, members
of several households who were closely related would eventually
develop a corporate identity, choose a leader and claim a common
territory
•
Eventually, as they get bigger, lineages may split up into smaller, more
manageable units
•
Some anthropologists refer to minimal and maximal lineages to
identify different levels of organization, especially in societies where
smaller lineages, resulting from splits, frequently joining together for
purposes of defense or collective work
•
Corporate Kin Groups
Clans, a broader, more comprehensive category consists of an even
larger number of lineages whose members also believe that they were
originally descended from a common ancestor
•
Lineages have a known ancestor (ex. Great grandfather), while
clans have a more distant, hypothetical ancestor which may even
take the form of a plant or animal which is the totem of the clan
○
Lineages are normally localized (local descent group), while
members of various lineages belonging to the same clan are
usually scattered through a wider territory
○
Think of clans as a kind of confederation to lineages, whose
members are symbolically related to each other and usually not
allowed to marry each other
○
These are called moieties
!
*see page 204
!
Some societies might only have two clans that divide the society
in half
○
Kinship corporations (i.e. clans and lineages) are usually
associated with ranking tribal societies, both pastoralists and
cultivators
○
Difference between clans and lineages:
•
This is the case for groups like Nuer in Sudan, which have
segmentary lineages
○
In those societies, order of birth also becomes very
important, since lineages originally founded by older
siblings have seniority over those founded by younger
siblings
!
The language of inequality used in those societies revolves
around the whole notion of main branches vs minor
branches of a kinship corporation
!
This sometimes becomes especially pronounced in
chiefdoms
!
On the other hand, in more hierarchical (ranking) societies, some
kinship corporations are more prestigious and powerful than
others
○
In more egalitarian societies, especially in the case of nomadic
pastoralists or tribal cultivators, each clan and lineage is generally
considered to be equal or equivalent
•
Clans and Lineages
In contrast to more permanent kinship corporations, a non-corporate
kin group (kindred) is a temporary group whose members get together
for only special occasions or for specific purposes (like organizing a
hunt or seeking revenge)
•
For all practical purposes, a kindred is synonymous with what most
North Americans would call their relatives
•
*see page 204-205
○
One way to picture this is to think of who you would invite to a
family wedding in terms of relatives
○
The text defines kindred as a group of consanguinal kin linked by their
relationship to one living individual, including both maternal and
paternal kin
•
Technically, a kindred refers to the network of kin any person
can theoretically mobilize or recruit to form special-purpose
groups
○
Its membership is not only temporary but usually overlaps
that of other kindreds; even close relatives are likely to
belong to different kindred
!
A kindred does not own joint property
!
That is a kindred is composed from the perspective
of an ego, as opposed to the lineal descent
relationship typical of kinship corporations
□
The only thing members of a special group have in
common is their connections with the person or small
group of people who recruit that group on any occasion
!
Other characteristic include:
○
Not all biologically related people occupy the same emotional space
•
Kindreds
Unilineal descent (patrilineal or matrilineal) does not mean groups of
men or women only
•
However, only a women's children and her daughter's children
can belong to her lineage or clan
○
However, the children of her son (both male and female) must
join his wife's matrilineage
○
A matrilineage consists of both women and men
•
Ex. Inhabitant of a village in the highlands of Papua New Guinea
is bound to belong to one of a specific number of lineages who
control all the land where people of the same lineage can farm
○
At the same time, that same person might get together for large
family gatherings which would include members of several
lineages
○
Many societies have both forms of kin groups
•
Lineage vs Gender
Kinship is the most basic principle of organizing individuals into
social groups, roles and categories
○
Some form of organization based on parentage and marriage is
present in every human society
○
In modern industrial communities family structures have been
weakened by the dominance of the market economy and the
provision of state organized social services
○
However, the nuclear family household is still the fundamental
institution responsible for rearing children and organizing
consumption
○
In non-industrial contexts, kinship units normally have a might
wider array of functions
○
They often serve as basic units of production, political
representation and even as religious bodies for the worship of
spiritual beings, who are themselves considered members of the
kin group
○
Yoruba of West Africa commemorate family ancestors in
the form of masked dances who become possessed by the
spirits of the dead to commune with their descendants
!
Ex. Yoruba Egunun Dancer
○
Introduction:
•
Sociobiologists take a reductionist position and see all family
institutions as conforming to a basic plan which reflects human
biological and evolutionary necessities
○
Relativists maintain that kinship has no intrinsic relation to
biology and is unlimited in its possible forms
○
Middle ground: kinship is constructed from a set of categories,
groups, relationships, and behaviours based upon culturally
determined beliefs and values concerning human biology and
reproduction
○
A lengthy infant maturation period that requires a major
commitment from one and usually both parents to nurture
and educate dependent children
!
The presence of a marital bond that creates an enduring
and socially regulated sexual and domestic relationship
between two or more people
!
Division of labor based on gender
!
A prohibition on intercourse and marriage between close
kin, which created a widely articulated network of
relationships between individuals related by marriage
!
Universal features of kinship systems:
○
Kinship is determined only according to links
through females in a matrilineal system
□
Trobian Islanders: maintain that the sex act has nothing to
do with a child's birth which is the result of impregnation
by the mother's ancestral totemic spirit
!
Therefore, a man's wife and mother usually belong
to the same lineage, creating a situation were
mothers are considered as in-laws (affinal relatives)
rather than biological (consanguineous) kin
□
Yanomamo: group people into localized patrilineages,
whose members regularly marry into the same groups
generation and generation
!
Cultures have different views about the "facts" of life and the
meaning of marriage, parentage and bird
○
Resulting network of people linked by marriage becomes
more than mere affines; they are transformed into kin in
both spirit and substance
!
Church applies standards to kinship to an individual's
baptismal sponsors (godparents) who are unrelated to the
child but who have entered into kinship through a shared
sacrement = fictive kinship
!
Catholic: marriage is seen as a literal union of the husband and
wide
○
Believe that everyone who bares the same name is the
descendant of a common ancestor
!
Residence rights and incest prohibitions are frequently
extended solely on the basis of people's names
!
San peoples of the Kalahari desert: development of strong ties on
the basis of fictive kinship provided by the "namesake kin"
system
○
Themes and Variations:
•
Circle = female
○
Triangle = male
○
Equal sign = marriage
○
Vertical line = descent or parentage
○
Horizontal line = sibling bond
○
*relationships are traced from a central individual, labelled "ego"
○
Kin Diagrams:
•
Extended bilateral network (=kindred) forms a recognized social
group, as in the case of many early medieval cultures
○
In non-contemporary European cultures, bilateral kinship is
dominant, but no recognizable groups are formed
○
In many non-Western societies emphasis is placed on exclusive
descent through male or female relatives as was also the case in
ancient Israel and Rome
○
These unilineal systems also recognize kinship relationships that
are not incorporated into direct male or female lines
○
Consanguineal kin = blood relatives
!
Affines/ affinal relatives = linked by own marriage or that
of their consanguines
!
Note:
○
Bilateral Kindred
•
"emic" classifications are specifically defined within a
cultural context
!
"etic" categories are used to describe and understand data
○
Lineal kin -direct ancestors or descendants of a particular Ego
○
Collateral kin -composed of Ego's siblings and their descendants
and the siblings his/her lineal skin of ascending generations and
their descendants as well
○
Lineal and Collateral Kin
•
Matrilateral kin = all family members related through Ego's
mother
○
Patrilateral kin = all family members related through Ego's father
○
Matrilateral = "spindle" side kin
!
Patrilateral = "spear" side group
!
In medival England,
○
Matrilateral and Patrilateral Kin
•
Patrilineal (agnatic) = relatives are identified by tracing descent
exclusively through males from a founding male ancestor
○
Matrilineal (uterine) = relatives are identified by tracing descent
exclusively through females from a founding female ancestor
○
(vs. parallel cousins -children of the same sexed
sibling)
□
Ex. Cross cousins -children of the opposite sexed sibling
!
*there are kin on each side that are neither patrilineal or
matrilineal = cross relatives
○
Matrilinear and Patrilineal Kin
•
Patrilineal societies are more common that matrilineal ones
(60% vs 30% of all unilineal systems; and 40% descent
systems)
!
Ancient Greek and Roman family organization
□
Bible -"tribes" of Israel were patrilineages
!
Matrilineal systems are less frequent but are still
ethnographically important ( Ex. West African Ashanti
kingdom)
!
*dual descent is rare (presence of patrilineal and
matrilineal groupings in single society)
!
Unilinear systems -descent is traced through parents and
ancestors of only one sex
○
Cognatic systems -descent can be traced through either or both
parents
○
Descent Systems:
•
Ancient Hebrews
○
Igbo of Nigeria
○
Turkish Villagers
○
Yanomamo of the Amazon
○
Patrilineal Descent:
•
Akan Matrilineal Structures
○
Matrilineal Descent:
•
Lineage: unilineal descent group whose members trace
their descent from a common ancestor through an accepted
sequence of known linking antecedents
!
Segment: larger units are subdivided into smaller
components via branching or segmentation
!
Clans: unilineal descent group whose members do not
trace genealogical links to a supposedly historical founding
ancestor
!
Moieties: occurrence of descent groups in linked pairs
which assume complementary positions and functions
!
Common types of groups:
○
Dual Descent:
•
Territorial organization
○
Land ownership
○
Inheritance
○
Marriage regulation
○
Social control
○
Political representation
○
Feud support
○
Ritual observance
○
Possible Functions:
•
Bilateral descent groups (stocks) -society is organized on
the basis of bilateral descent from recognized ancestors
!
Kindred -ego focused networks that extend through both
parents and their bilateral kin
!
Bilateral systems -involve inclusion of all an individual's
relatives within a given range
○
Ambilineal systems -involve an exclusive selection of
membership in a father's or mother's group, usually upon
adulthood
○
Cognatic Kinship Structures:
•
Kinship Tutorial
Patrilineal rule
□
Matrilineal rule
□
This is the unilineal rule, sub-divided into two categories
!
A society can be very systematic (but restrictive) and always
trace descent, or kin connections, through one line (sex) only
*read pages 196-202
○
A society can have a more flexible rule, ambilineal descent
which allows for the tracing of descent through wither the male
line or the female line based on the choice of the person
○
Regardless of the form of kin groups found in any particular society,
there are only so many rules of kinship reckoning one can logically use
to determine membership, trace descent or for whatever purpose one
wants
•
This does not mean that all your blood relatives will belong to
the same lineage -only that membership in the kinship
corporation is determined by a consistent rule which
automatically restricts membership of certain relatives according
to the gender of their parents
○
In a society with kinship corporations (lineages) which uses the
unilineal principle, this principle is used to define membership in all
lineages
•
Because kinship corporations are mutually exclusive,
membership of closely related relatives is restricted not on the
basis of an automatic rule related to the sex of one's parents, but
rather on the basis of residence
○
In other words, although someone has the right to join any
number of lineages (as long as they have a kinship connection to
them), that person retains an active membership in only one
lineage by virtue of the place they choose to live and work
○
In most cases, you can assume that lineages are exogamous: a person
has to marry someone from another lineage, because members of your
own lineage are considered to be closely related
•
They are therefore excluded from lineage (and clan) membership
by virtue of where they reside
○
If a person living in his father's lineage decides to move to (and
cultivate land in) his or her mother's lineage (usually, but not always
after marriage), they can no longer have full membership rights in their
father's lineage
•
There are many more forms of kinship, many of them rare or not
yet well known or understood
○
Double descent (pages 201-202) which is found among the Yako
of Nigeria and some other groups is a rare form of unilineal
descent which consistently uses both the patrilineal and
matrilineal principles simultaneously but for different reasons
○
For a long time anthropologists though that all societies with descent
groups has to either be matrilineal or patrilineal, until they realized that
there ware other ways of organizing kinship corporations
•
Patrilineage might be used to regulate ownership of land, while
the matrilineage would be a separate kinship corporation in
charge of regulating who inherits cattle, or used for purely
religious purposes
○
If such a society is characterized by predominantly patrilocal
post-martial residence, the members of the same matrilineage are
more likely to be scattered over different villages
○
These two types of kinship organizations (with overlapping
memberships) have very different functions
•
Principles (Rules) of Descent
Many kin based (non state-level) societies have other forms of group
formation, including age-sets, age-grades, village councils and pan-
tribal sodalities (secrete societies)
•
These forms of social organization, more commonly associated
with state-level societies, including systems based on caste (see
pages 232-235) and fictive kinship (see page 195)
○
Other forms of social organization and group formation are closely
related to kinship
•
Other Forms of Social Organization in Non-state Societies
There are some variations from these ideal types but a surprising
number of cultures conform to the types outlined in text
○
*see pages 209-212
○
= Eskimo or Inuit system
!
North Americans are most familiar with a system that recognizes
our relatives on both our mothers and fathers site
○
Note: Hawaiian system has fewest number of kin in terms as all
aunts and uncles are referred to as mother and father, and all
cousins are referred to as brothers and sisters
○
Most human cultures observe a kinship system that is one of six basic
types
•
Also, certain aunts and uncles are not even considered to be
related
○
While the siblings of the parents are considered related their
spouses are not
○
In some societies (such as Iroquois) certain cousins are labeled as
brothers and sisters while others have different terms
•
Differences reflect whether society is bilateral or unilinear,
patrilineal or matrilineal
○
We can see from these variations that kinship is as much about
social categories as it is about biological relationships
○
Every culture determines the significance of a relationship
sometimes excluding people of equal biological closeness
○
Six systems are named after cultures where they were observed
•
Kinship Systems
However, many households may include people who are not
family members
○
In some societies, members of the same family may not even live
in the same house or eat together
○
It may seem self-evident that when a couple gets married they will set
up a household, and that when they begin having children, they will
start a new family
•
Anthropologists distinguish between marriage as a relationship, the
family as a kinship group and the household as a group of people with
different economic tasks and responsibilities
•
Explaining this form of cultural diversity is one of the main tasks
of anthropologists specializing in the study of kinship and the
family
○
One important factor is ecological adaptation, and another is
gender relations
○
One cannot really understand any form of marriage, family, or
household without taking into account the different systems of
descent and larger, non-family kinship groups as they have
developed over time
○
Marriages, families and households can take on many different forms,
each of which can be classified in terms of typologies
•
Household and Family
Neolocal = set up new household of their own
○
Patrilocal = move in with husband's father's family
○
Matrilocal = move in with wife's mother's fmaily
○
Avunculocal postmarital residence = join household of the
brother of the man's mother
○
Household is often described as the group of people who sleep under
the same rood and who share cooking facilities
•
Classification of households in terms of residence can get
complicated
○
If a society has a very strict rule that a couple has to move in
with either side of the family or the other (matrilocal/patrilocal),
both types of residence can be labeled as unilocal
○
If the couple is free to live with either side = bilocal (ambilocal)
○
One could emphasize the husband or the wide as the person with whom
someone goes to live after marriage
•
= matri-neolocal
○
In some societies, a couple may first go live with the wife's parents
(where a man has to perform bride service) and then they will move
out and set up household of their own
•
In many cases, these rules of post-marital residence are norms or
guides for behaviour
•
To ascertain basic unit of economic cooperation (or who tend to
work together), ask people whose decision on any important
household matter would take precedence in case of competing
demands
○
Ex. North America middle-class families: woman would side
with husband rather than with her mother
○
Systematic (statistical) comparisons of different societies have
led anthropologists to conclude that the predominant form of
post-marital residence in any society is largely dependent on the
nature of the system of production, which in turn reflects
ecological adaptations
○
Four main kinds of post-marital residence patterns and corresponding
household strucutre depends on basic unit of economic cooperation:
•
The Household
In a society where women do most of the farming, where
daughters generally learn about soil conditions and planting
techniques from their mothers, and where men are frequently
away from home on hunting expedition, one is more likely to
find matrilocal residences
○
In pastoral nomadic societies, where fathers and sons work closely
together, women almost invariably move into a household already
established by her husband's father (patrilocal)
•
Big game hunters, where sons not only learn to hunt from their fathers,
but continue to do so even after they are married, are also
predominantly patrilocal
•
Foragers who engage in more diversified hunting activities are more
likely to practice bilocal residence, as does any society which needs
greater flexibility in terms of where couples go to live after marriage
•
Residency & Mode of Production
Large block like systems created by descent patterns tend to get
eroded by the more flexible and more network like systems like
our own
○
Functions carry out by these blocks are taken by others
○
Economic changes, political changes --> breaks up independent
ties between kin
○
Kinship falls away due to market
!
No longer need to rely on kin for help in production and
distribution of good
○
No longer dependent on parents
○
Can disinherent children
!
No longer essential to have children
!
Social mobility
○
Rise of banks -break up descent groups
○
Did not have to make defense system through kinship
systems
!
Military organization -> waging war
○
Perishable and irregular
!
Difficulties are dealt with by other forces
!
Harvests --> depend on kinship no longer
○
Gradually growth of Western family model over the world
○
Clan systems are broken down
○
Destruction of peasant economy
○
--> rise of nationalism
○
Ex. Mafia in organized crime
!
Lineage ties still remain important in both urban and industrial
settings
○
Watch: Erosion of the Power of Kinship Systems
•
There are many forms of extended families, depending on
whether or not the nuclear family is expanded to include married
siblings, several generations, or multiple spouses
○
*see pages 183-188
○
There are many technical terms for various forms of extended
families, such as collateral families and stem families
○
One can also talk about polygamous families
○
When focusing on the family, as a kin group resulting from a certain
type of marriage, anthropologists tend to use such terms as the nuclear
or the extended family
•
It is hard to determine when two closely-connected nuclear
families become an extended family
○
These are all typologies based on binary oppositions introduced by
anthropologists
•
Situations where the nuclear family is the only social
group whose members always stay together, even though
this nuclear family is always a part of a larger household
whose respective nuclear family units are always moving
back and forth between different bands
!
Situations where a couple constitutes a completely
independent neolocal household (urban industrial
societies)
!
When used in this sense, one can still distinguish between two
types of societies, each characterized by nuclear family mobility:
○
The term nuclear family is sometimes used to refer to the basic
building block for all other types of families, including extended
families
•
The fact that nuclear family mobility is common to both urban,
industrial societies and band-level hunters and gatherers illustrates the
dangers of simplistic evolutionary typologies
•
19th century Ontario farm families demonstrated extended
families with generally 3 generations living under one roof
○
In most cases, the extended family is synonymous with a large
household, especially if the definition for household is expanded to
include close relatives who live in close proximity or share a common
courtyard
•
The Family
Kinship & Family Structures
Friday,*March*9,*2018 6:17*PM
Document Summary
Explain what kinship is and how kinship roles and relationships vary cross-culturally. Correctly use various technical terms, as well as diagrams related to kinship theory. Describe the structure of unilineal descent systems and explain how patrilineality and matrilineality work. Outline the various rules of descent and their influence on corresponding types of kin group formation. Distinguish the four basic systems of kinship terminology. Diagrammatically illustrate kinship systems by charting the kinship structures of specific ethnographic examples. Distinguish the difference between the concepts of family and household. Explain how different household forms and the head of household patterns are related to different social contexts. Note: study of kinship deals with how people regulate sexual activities through different types of marriages, resulting in contrasting forms of households and families. However, kin relations go far beyond the level of small family groupings to encompass much larger numbers of people.
