Families, Kinship, and Descent Chapter 19

Families Considerably diverse cross-culturally Essential to ethnography Types of kin Nuclear Family Parents and Children Extended family Usually not residentially based Descent groups - group based on a belief in shared ancestry Lineages or clans Basic unit of social organization for nonindustrialized cultures Affinals- relatives by marriage

Nuclear and Extended Families Nuclear Family Two nuclear families Family of Orientation Birth critical relation to siblings and parents Family of Procreation Marriage Critical relation to spouse and children More through divorce Usually take priority over other kin relations Widespread but not universal The Nayar Southern India Matrilineal Live in tarawads Marriage is ceremonial - coming of age Females can have many partners Children belong to their mother’s tarawad

Industrialism and the Family Industrialization and geographic mobility Kin are more dispersed People are not tied to land Jobs determine locality Neolocality – living in a newly established residence Typical of “western” marriage Cultural and statistical norm Economic Stratification Lower classes exhibit more expanded family household Households with nonnuclear residence Adaptation to poverty 3 or more generations are extended family households Siblings, spouses and children are collateral households

Changes in North American Kinship Nuclear families Cultural ideal Accounts for 21% Women in the workplace Easier to delay marriage 21 in 1970, 26.5 in 2011 Job demands compete with romantic interests Single parents Rates growing faster than the population Divorce 4.3 million in 1970, 23.7 million in 2010 Kin isolation growing rapidly Social living through work, friendship, sports, clubs, religion, etc. United States vs Brazil What is family to the middle-class? Brazilian society is less mobile Focus on parents, siblings, aunts, uncles Less stress on the spousal relationship

Foraging Families Not social complex, but geographically mobile Like industrialized society, not tied to the land Importance of the nuclear family and the band Band joining instead of neolocation Emphasize small self-sufficient family groups

Descent Kin grouping among non-industrialized food producers Descent groups Permanent, unlike nuclear family Most frequently exogamous Unilineal descent – descent along one line Matrilineal or patrilineal May be lineages (demonstrated) or clans (stipulated) Both believe in an apical ancestor Ex: Adam and Eve Not always human (totem) Lineages Members can name their ancestors back to the apex Clans Members claim relation, but can’t necessarily trace back to the apex

Residence and Ambilineal Descent Enduring descent requires managing the estate Most descent lineages are patrilocal Ambilineal descent – offspring may choose the group they join More flexible then unilineal May join both, or switch back and forth Family vs Descent Many societies have both Obligations may conflict More often in matrilineal societies Patrilineal allows for a woman’s full investment in offspring Matrilineal leads to higher divorce rates and greater female promiscuity Ex: the Makua of Mozambique and a women’s brother’s wife’s fidelity

Kinship Calculation Kinship calculation – how people in a society account for kin relations First must define “relatives” Kinship is culturally constructed Genealogical Kin Types and Kin Terms Kin Type refers to a relationship Ex: father’s brother Kin Terms refers to the title Ex: uncle Reflect social construction May lump relationships Ex: Cousin, uncle Bilateral Calculation – kin ties calculated equally from male to female Typical of North American kinship, despite some matrilineal skewing

Kinship Terminology A taxonomy developed over generations A limited number of patterns Six Systems