Solving the Problem of
Cooperation
Kinship and Descent
Genealogical Space
Out ofspace
the vast
…that
that number
contains of
allhuman
human beings
beings, represented by The Last
Judgment by Hieronymus Bosch,
only a few do we recognize as our
Kindred
relatives. This Module deals with
…
everyone
related
ego (an that
individual).
how
we study
thosetosystems
determine who our relatives are:
Kinship Systems
The Last Judgment
Hieronymus Bosch
Genealogical Space is that space that contains all
human beings. It’s conventional to fill this space with
symbols that represent:
Descent
consanguineal
Males
Females
Generation
consanguineal
Marriage
affinal
Kinship and Descent
Concerning the matter of relatives:
These are Cultural Universals…
relatives -“blood” relatives
consanguineal
affinal - relatives by marriage
term of address - use when talking to someone
term of reference – use when talking about
someone
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]
Typical Kinship Chart
Rules of Descent
Matrilineal
Unilineal
Patrilineal
Bilateral
Cognatic
“Double Descent”
Parallel
Ambilineal
Bilineal
Bilineal descent
Eskimo Kinship
Similar to “American” system
Matrilineal descent
Crow, Trobriand Islanders, Navajo
Patrilineal descent
Omaha, Bakhtiari, Nuer, Traditional China
Rules of Residence
Neolocal
Associated with bilineal descent
Matrilocal
Associated with matrilineal descent
Patrilocal
Associated with patrilineal descent
Ambilocal
Associated with bilineal descent
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