Chapter 6 Flashcards
What is kinship?
Complex system of culturally defined social relationships based on marriage, birth or blood.
What does kinship determine?
Who are your kin members and “real” relatives, rights/expectations/responsibilities of the people in your life.
What are the functions of kinship?
- continuation of group
- maintaining social order
- residence
- support for production, consumption and distribution
- succession and inheritance
What are the three main ways kinship is established?
Descent, Sharing, Marriage
What is descent?
Tracing of kinship relationships through parents.
What is Unilineal descent vs bilateral descent?
Unilateral descent traces kinship links through either the mother’s side or father’s side, bilateral traces through both the mother and father.
What modes of production are most associated with unilineal descent?
Horticulture, pastoral, agricultural.
How is descent traced among the Minangkabau of Indonesia?
Through the mother’s lineage.
What is lineage?
Localized group that is based on unilineal descent and usually has corporate powers.
What modes of production are most associated with bilateral descent? What are some examples of cultures with bilateral descent?
Foraging and Industrial.
Inuit, Ju Wasi, Canada.
How does sharing work for kinship?
Form kinship connections through sharing: adoption/fostering, godparents, food sharing.
What is marriage?
A union between two people who are likely to be, but not necessarily, co-resident, sexually involved, and pro-creative.
What did Evan Pritchard observe and find in Nuer of East Africa.
He observed social relationships of marriage. He found that in Nuer, women could marry another woman and become social father (pater) of their children, and when male members die without a male heir their brother or nephew can marry his wife to the dead man’s name (ghost marriage).
What are two other forms of ghost marriage?
Levirate: Marrying dead husband’s brother.
Sororate: Marrying dead wife’s sister.
What are rules of exclusion in marriage?
Has to do with spousal selection, some people are inherently unsuitable for someone to marry. Ex, incest
