1. Family, kinship, and marriage
(The information in this talk has been taken from Ann Samuelson’s presentation “Kinship,” Conrad Kottak’s presentations “Marriage” and “Kinship”, and Conformity and Conflict 10 ed.)

2. A few questions: What’s family? What’s kinship? What’s marriage?
Image source:

3. Family A fundamental social group in society
2+ people who share goals and values, have long-term commitments to one another, and reside usually in the same dwelling place.
Usually based on kinship relationships
Usually implies rights and obligations
Economic
Child-rearing
Etc.
Nuclear family - widespread but not universal
Image source -

4. Kinship
How cultures perceive and formally categorize people’s relationships based on marriage, biology, and adoption
Consanguinity = by common ancestor, adoption
Affinity = by marriage
helps to answer questions:
Who am I close to? Who am I distant from?
Who can I marry?
Who can I be romantically involved/have sex with?
Who am I obligated to cooperate with?
Who provides support during crises?
Who shares in economic and religious undertakings?
Etc.
As long as a society remains small, kinship groups are very important.
Image source:

5. Kinship cross-culturally
Lots of variety
At individual level, usually ascribed
Possibilities include:
Unilineal
Matrilineal
Patrilineal
Bilateral (e.g. most in U.S.A.& Canada, Inuit)
Others (e.g. bilineal, ambilineal)

6. Matrilineal descent: Heritage traced back to mother’s mother, mother and her siblings, and the children of your mother’s sisters. Less common. (e.g. Hopi, Canela)
Matrilocal: New husband moves in with the wife and her parents.
Pros?
Cons?

7. Matrilineal descent
Source: Conrad Kottak’s presentation ”Kinship”

8. Patrilineal descent: Most common type of Unilineal decent
Patrilineal descent: Most common type of Unilineal decent. Traces ancestry through male lines: starting with father’s father to father and father’s siblings, to the children of your father’s brothers. (e.g. Japan, China, feudal Europe)
Patrilocality: When a son and his family lives with his parents.
Pros?
Cons?

9. Patrilineal descent

10. Marriage Marriage cross-culturally:
1 man + 1 woman almost always an option but many societies also allow other forms of marriage:
Polyandry (rare)
Polygyny (more common)
Other possibilities:
Same sex marriages
Arranged marriages
Etc.

11. Marriage is pretty much universal, but it’s difficult to define!
Marriage can:
establish children’s parentage
establish marriage participants’ exclusive right to sex
give one spouse the right another spouse’s labor and/or property
establish a joint fund of property for children
establish social ties between the spouses’ relatives
etc.

12. The Nuer - same sex and “ghost” marriages allowed
Examples:
Tibet
The Nuer - same sex and “ghost” marriages allowed
The Masai of East Africa - polygyny allowed
Feudal Europe - arranged marriages
Photo source: Conrad Kottak’s presentations “Marriage”
A masai elder with his wives and
children.

13. Example: polyandry (1 woman, multiple husbands)
A polyandrous family in Nepal. The seated young woman is Terribal, age 15. She holds her youngest husband, age 5. Left of her is another husband, age 12 and behind her a third husband, age 9.
Photo source: Conrad Kottak’s presentations “Marriage”

14. Divorce is found in most if not all societies, but the rules vary from society to society.
Factors that can influence divorce rate:
Are spouses financially independent?
Was bridewealth paid?
Will a woman lose her children if she leaves?
Etc.

15. Group discussion “Family trees” - compare
Similarities?
Differences?
How have ideas of family & marriage changed in the U.S. over the past 50 years?
Why do you think these changes have happened?
How are these changes reflected/intensified by the media?