KINSHIP AND DESCENT MARRIAGE AND FAMILY SOCI 202 SPRING 2014 Instructor: Deniz Yükseker Koç University

KINSHIP Kinship: various systems of social organization that societies have constructed based on the human experiences of mating, birth and nurturance Mating, birth and nurturance are ambiguous experiences Kinship systems try to remove some of that ambiguity

DESCENT Kinship is an idiom: a selective interpretation of mating, birth and nurturance. Kinship creates social relations by defining sets of interlocking statuses and roles Descent: culturally defined relationships based on birth and nurturance (consanguinal relationships) Marriage: culturally defined relations based on mating (affinal relationships)

Patterns of Descent Bilateral descent (connections through both mother and father) Unilineal descent (connections through the mother or father) Patrilineal descent Matrilineal descent

Bilateral descent Bilateral kindred: Ego and his/her relatives Overlapping memberships, but does not last beyond Ego’s life

Unilineal descent Unilineal descent is based on the principle that certain parent-child relationships are more important than others Patrilineal descent: unilineal kinship groups based on links traced through a person’s father or male kin Matrilineal descent: unilineal kinship groups based on links traced through a person’s mother or female kin

Lineage: all people who believe they can specify the parent-child links that connect them to one another through a common ancestor Lineages may have a “time depth” of five or more generations A lineage may have a single legal identity, and may control property as a unit. In some societies, lineages may be an important political association

Clan: a descent group made up of lineages that are believed to be related to each other through links that go to mythical times Lineages endure over time, but they may also be flexible

Lineages Patrilineage: all people (male and female) who believe themselves to be related to one another because they are related to a common male ancestor by links through men Kernel of patrilineage: father-son pair

Matrilineage: descent is traced through women Kernel of matrilineage: sister-brother pair A matrilineage is not a matriarchy

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

Marriage A “prototypical” marriage: is (usually but not always) between a man and a woman, it transforms their status, and regulates sexual access between them. establishes legitimacy of the children born to the wife, and creates formal relations between the kin of the husband and the kin of the wife. A marriage is a socially approved union; in contemporary societies, this approval is legally officiated. Same-sex marriages are legal in some societies. Domestic partnerships (common law unions) are legally recognized in some societies.

Marriage brings for the spouses new roles rights and obligations But these vary enormously from culture to culture

Marriage patterns Exogamy (out-marriage) Endogamy Neolocal residence Bilocal residence Patrilocal residence (strongly associated with patrilineage) Matrilocal residence (only in matrilineal societies)

Marriage patterns (cont’d) Monogamy Polygamy Polygny Polyandry

Marriage as alliance Marriage is an alliance between two families or lineages Exchange of wealth between families: Dowry Bride service Bride price What is the significance of dowry? What kind of society would practice bride price? What is the significance of bride price?

Marriage as alliance (cont’d) Sororate Levirate What is the role of sororate and levirate in maintaining alliances between families?

Family Conjugal family: a husband and wife and children Non-conjugal family: a woman and her children Nuclear family Polygynous family Extended family Joint family Blended family Family by choice Divorce

CASE STUDIES “Mother’s Love: Death without weeping” (Nancy Scheper-Hughes) “Matrilineal kinship: Walking marriage in China” (Yuan and Mitchell) “Polyandry: When Brothers Take a Wife” (Melvyn Goldstein)

Mothers’ Love in Northeast Brazil How would you define mother’s love? What is delayed attachment? What is mortal selective neglect (passive infanticide)?

Matrilineal descent among the Mosuo What are the benefits of walking marriage for the Mosuo people? Why did the Chinese government think that matrilineal “walking marriage” is inferior to patrilineal monogamous marriage?

Polyandry among Tibetans in Northern Nepal Why do Tibetan brothers in Northern Nepal marry a single woman?