Kinship: An Introduction to the Basic Concepts

This book is an introduction to the social anthropology of kinship - to the ways in which the peoples of different cultures marry and relate to each other within and outside the family.TABLE OF CONTENTSList of Figures.Preface.Part I: Basic Concepts:.1. Introductory.2. Descent.3. The Family and Other Kin Groupings.4. Marriage and Sexual Relations.5. Kinship (Relationship) Terminology.6. Symmetric Affinal Alliance.7. Asymmetric Affinal Alliance.8. FZD and ZD Marriage.9. Non-prescriptive Pseudo-systems.10. The Meaning of Kinship.Part II: Theories of Kinship:.11. The Significance of Kinship in Anthropology.12. Theories of Descent.13. Kinship Terminology and Affinal Alliance.14. Typologies and Terminological Change.15. Ethnographic Examples and Further Reading.Bibliography.Index. This book is an introduction to the social anthropology of kinship - to the ways in which the peoples of different cultures marry and relate to one another within and outside the family, and to the means by which one generation relates to those that come before and after it. It is addressed in particular to students of anthropology, but is also intended as a one-volume guide to those, such as social historians and geographers, who find it necessary to understand patterns of kinship in different places and at different times. The book is divided into two parts. It opens with a discussion of what kinship means to the social anthropologist as distinct from the biologist, and considers the different possible approaches to the subject within social anthropology itself. The following chapters cover topics such as descent, inheritance, succession, the family, residence, marriage, kinship terminology, systems and pseudo-systems of affinal alliance, the new reproductive technologies, and symbolic approaches to kinship. In Part II four chapters provide an overview of theoretical debates concerning aspects of kinship, and consider, for example, how recent work on gender, person, and the body have challenged and modified earlier assumptions about, for example, descent, succession, and familial alliances. The book applies and illustrates these concepts and topics to a number of contrasting case studies. These illustrate the insights that can be achieved from the study of kinship, and also show that the complexity of even the most familiar kinship patterns rarely lends itself to simple description. The author also includes annotated guides to further reading.

This book is an introduction to the social anthropology of kinship - to the ways in which the peoples of different cultures marry and relate to each other within and outside the family, and to the means by which one generation relates to those that come before and after it. It is addressed in particular to students of anthropology, but is also intended as a one-volume guide to those, such as social historians, demographers and geographers, who find it necessary to understand patterns of kinship in different places and at different times.

The book is divided into two parts. Part I opens with a discussion of what kinship means to the social anthropologist as distinct from the biologist, and considers the different possible approaches to the subject within social anthropology itself. The following chapters cover topics such as descent, inheritance, succession, the family, residence, marriage, kinship terminology, systems of affinal alliance, the new reproductive technologies, and symbolic approaches to kinship.

In Part II the first four chapters provide an overview of theoretical debates concerning different aspects of kinship. The final chapter provides ethnographic examples, together with an annotated guide to further reading, divided by chapter.

The book applies and illustrates these concepts and topics to a number of contrasting case studies. These illustrate the insights that can be achieved from the study of kinship, and also show that the complexity of even the most familar kinship patterns rarely lends itself to simple description. The author also includes annotated guides to further reading.

This book introduces the social anthropology of kinship -- the ways in which the peoples of different cultures marry and relate to each other within and outside the family, and the means by which one generation relates to those that come before and after it. It is a one-volume guide to those who find it necessary to understand patterns of kinship in different places and at different times.The book discusses what kinship means to the social anthropologist as distinct from the biologist, and considers the different possible approaches to the subject within social anthropology itself. It then covers topics such as descent, inheritance, succession, the family, residence, marriage, kinship terminology, systems of affinal alliance, the new reproductive technologies, and symbolic approaches to kinship.After providing an overview of theoretical debates concerning different aspects of kinship, it concludes with ethnographic examples, together with an annotated guide to further reading. Contents Figures Preface Part I: Basic Concepts 1. Introductory 2. Descent 3. The Family and Other Kin Groupings 4. Marriage and Sexual Relations 5. Kinship (Relationship) Terminology 6. Symmetric Affinal Alliance 7. Asymmetric Affinal Alliance 8. FZD and ZD Marriage 9. Non-prescriptive Pseudo-systems 10. The Meaning of Kinship Part II: Theories of Kinship 11. The Significance of Kinship in Anthropology 12. Theories of Descent 13. Kinship Terminology and Affinal Alliance 14. Typologies and Terminological Change 15. Ethnographic Examples and Further Reading Bibliography Index All human societies have kinship, that is, they all impose some privileged cultural order over the biological universals of sexual relations and continuous human reproduction through birth.