Solving the Problem of Cooperation

Solving the Problem of Cooperation Marriage and Family(Chs. 19, 20) Kinship and Descent (Ch. 21)

The Last Judgment Hieronymus Bosch Genealogical Space …that space that contains all human beings Kindred … everyone related to ego.

Social Anthropology Genealogical Space Descent consanguineal Males Females Generation consanguineal Marriage affinal

Kinship and Descent Concerning the matter of relatives: consanguineal affinal term of address term of reference These are Cultural Universals… relatives

Kinship and Descent The investigation of kinship terminology begins with a distinction between kin types and kin terms. Kin types refer to the basic uncategorized relationships that anthropologists use to describe the actual contents of kinship categories. They are supposedly culture free, etic components. Kin terms are the labels for categories of kin that include one or more kin types. They are emic structures and vary across cultures.

Kin Types Primary components and letter symbols Mother [M] Father [F] Sister [Z] Brother [B] Daughter [D] Son [S] Husband [H] Wife [W]

Rules of Descent Matrilineal Unilineal Patrilineal Bilineal (Bilateral) Double Ambilineal

Bilineal descent Eskimo Kinship Similar to “American” system

Matrilineal descent Crow, Trobriand Islanders, Navajo

Patrilineal descent Omaha, Bakhtiari, Nuer, Traditional China

Lineage - descent group w/common ancestor Fission - splitting of group Clan - same as lineage w/o known common ancestor (Mendi of New Guinea) Totemism - relation to common ancestral spirit Phratry - two or more clans w/common ancestor Moiety - half of a society divided by descent Kindred - consanguineal relatives of single individual

Rules of Residence Neolocal Associated with bilineal descent Matrilocal Associated with matrilineal descent Patrilocal Associated with patrilineal descent Ambilocal Associated with bilineal descent

Formation of Groups Marriage and Family

Marriage and Family Marriage “…a relationship between one or more men (male or female) and one or more women (male or female) recognized by the society as having a continuing claim to the right of sexual access to one another” (Haviland 2003:514). Marriage …one variable in the formation of kinship groups (affinal relatives). The other is descent (consanguineal relatives). “The notion of marriage as a sacrament and not just a contract can be traced St. Paul who compared the relationship of a husband and wife to that of Christ and his church.” (http://marriage.about.com/cs/generalhistory/a/marriagehistory.htm) In a 2005 book, Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage, Coontz writes: “Almost every marital and sexual arrangement we have seen in recent years, however startling it may appear, has been tried somewhere before.” (p. 2)

Marriage and Family Affines - relatives by marriage Consanguineal kin - relatives by birth Conjugal bond – bond between married individuals Incest taboo - very strong prohibition against mating within particular group.

Rules of Marriage Monogamy One spouse Endogamy Marry inside group Polygamy Multiple spouses Marry outside group Exogamy Among the Buddhist people of the mountainous Ladakh District of Jammu and Kashmir, who have cultural ties to Tibet, fraternal polyandry is practiced, and a household may include a set of brothers with their common wife or wives. This family type, in which brothers also share land, is almost certainly linked to the extreme scarcity of cultivable land in the Himalayan region, because it discourages fragmentation of holdings. Multiple wives Polygyny Strong prohibition against marriage inside group Incest taboo Multiple husbands Polyandry Children are offspring of the group Group marriage Multiple spouses, one at a time Serial marriage

Marriage and Family Levirate - “brother marriage” Sororate - “sister marriage” …Either of the above may be “anticipatory” Fictive marriage

Marriage and Family Parallel-cousin (= Cousin) Marriage • ego's father's brother's children or mother's sister's children. Cross-cousin (X-Cousin) Marriage • ego's father's sister's children or mother's brother's children.

Marriage and Family Cross-cousin (X Cousin) Marriage • ego's father's sister's children or mother's brother's children.

Marriage and Family X Cousin Marriage in Matrilineal Societies Sometimes prescriptive (should) Sometimes proscriptive (must) adoption fictive

Marriage and Family Stephanie Coontz, author of The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America's Changing Families and The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap, wrote: “Many people hold an image of how American families ‘used to be’ at some particular point in time, and they propose that we return to that ideal. In fact, however, there have been a wide variety of family forms and values in American history, and there is no period in which some ideal family predominated.” The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap (1992) Kathleen Gough specialized in cross cultural studies of the family and attempted this universal definition of family (a definition that applies to all societies): “A married couple or other group of adult kinsfolk who cooperate economically and in the upbringing of children, and all or most of whom share a common dwelling.” Family“…in anthropological terms, it is a group composed of a woman, her dependent children, and at least one adult man joined through marriage or blood relationship” (Haviland 2003: 537). Note on co-operation: Human beings, indeed all social animals, are innately co-operative. So far…… The “family” continues to be the most universal form of human social organization.

Marriage and Family Family relatives Nuclear families independence training Extended families dependence training

Marriage and Family Traditional functions of families Emotional nurturance Women in Civilian Labor Force: In 1900…20.6% of total …43.5% single women and 5.6% of married women. In 2002…69.6% of total…67.4% single women and 61.0% of married women. U.S. Census Bureau - Marital Status of Women in the Civilian Labor Force: 1900-2002. Sex control Economic Co-operation Physical nurturance Enculturation

Trends in Marriage and Family …i.e. modern genetics • Related to technology “Brave New World” of ‘Designer Children’ Genetic implications: Choosing or avoiding physical ability or disability Choosing or avoiding behavioral ability or disability Ravitsky, Ethics and Education: The Ethics of Shaping Human Identity http://www.mssm.edu/msjournal/69/v69_5_page312_316.pdf

Solving the Problem of Cooperation