a) Kinship, b) surrogacy, and new reproductive technologies a) Kinship: relations of blood, marriage,
or shared substances (blood brotherhood, sharing food/drink). Example, in Rwanda the sharing of beer
is very socially important and creates blood relationships. If assistance is needed, a drinking friend would
most likely to be called on over family. b) surrogacy, and new reproductive technologies: In-vitro
fertilization, surrogate mother. These change our ideas about kinship and relatedness. This changes the
blood relation and the legal guardian’s t to the child. A surrogate mother/biological mother vs. the legal
guardians of the fetal child. After birth she didn’t want to give up the child, do we give into biological or
legal rules? Courts prefer the traditional two-parent household, so they gave the child to the legal
parents instead of the biological mother.
Key terms for kinship
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Household vs. Family
Family of orientation: the family you’re born into
Family of procreation: the family you create wish a spouse, heterosexual bias
Bilateral kinship: Trace kinship from sides, mother and father
Nuclear family: Mother – father and children, or a couple (2 gen.)
Extended family: family group based on at least 3 or more blood generations
Matrilineal kinship: More focus on the mother’s side
Matrilineal: Mother’s family line
Patrilineal kinship: More focus on the father’s side
Patrilineage: Father’s family line
E.E Evans-Pritchard and witchcraft among the Azande Anybody in Azande is capable of conducting
witchcraft on the people; your power grows throughout your life. *Witchcraft explains unfortunate
events. Eg. A barn falling, we see wood rot but they will blame it on witchcraft.
Peter Geschiere and modern witchcraft “The modernity of Witchcraft, 1997” (Ethnography in Africa)
*Witchcraft beliefs among the Maka people did not decline with rise of modernization. In fact,
witchcraft accusations increased after independence from colonial power.
*Witchcraft explains both good and bad fortune.
*Witchcraft in modern Cameroon explains and overcomes new inequalities brought about by capitalism
and state political organization in the postcolonial period.
Marcel Mauss and the Gift, 1924. Balanced Reciprocity: best exemplified by the Christmas gift
exchange. Generalized Reciprocity: a longer time lag between giving and getting is acceptable.
Language and Culture (Sapir-Whorf hypothesis; metaphor) a) Language – Body language (gender)
and spoken language, vocabulary, dialect (religion), grammar. b)Culture - the quality in a person or
society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners,
scholarly pursuits, etc. (Culture is patterned even though all the patterns may not be the same.)
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The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: The categories in Language condition the ways in which its
speakers perceive and experience reality.
The hypothesis: Your language causes your outlook on the world.
Religion and Worldview Religion: Europeans thought that as scientific modern ideas spread around
the world, religious beliefs would decline. (How can people hold onto beliefs that fail in the real world?)
*Prayers does not always work in the real word
*Can maintain prayer by inserting conditions on the action. Eg. Being selfish it will not work.
Worldview: Is an encompassing picture of reality created by member of a society, shared assumptions
about how the world works which members use to interpret everyday events and make decisions. Eg.
Existence of magic might be a part of a group’s worldview – will interpret everyday events like illness,
good/bad harvests, death, etc. though magic.
Social Identity When we belong to a group, we are likely to derive our sense of
identity, at least in part, from that group. We also enhance the sense of identity by making
comparisons with out-groups. Social identity is different from personal identity, which is
derived from personal characteristics and individual relationships.
GenderIn equality, politics, and law (We usually think kinship as private, not public like politics. But
kinship can be connected to wider public moments.) Eg. State keeping track of marriages, registry of
couples. States is concerned to legitimatacy of marriage to prevent unwanted immigration immigration
to US/Canada.( Body language, posture, walking giants, sitting, socialization and “violent” behavior,
speech, toys, modeling from your parents, extracir. Activities) (Gender: social roles and learned behavior
and ideas attributed to males and females. Gender is culturally diverse because different standards
apply to being male or female in different societies.
Revitalization Movements attempts by people to construct a more satisfying culture after social
upheaval calls their old beliefs into questions. Ex: Text reading: Ghost Dance among Sioux and other
Native American groups.
Syncretization the combination of old beliefs with new ones that are often introduced during
colonization. Ex: Haitian Voodoo. The Haitians (Africans) created a hybrid culture with witchcraft and
Christian beliefs when they were colonized.
Ghost Dance
The “fairy tale” of a just war
Gift exchange (and social relationship; gift vs. commodities)
Balanced reciprocity
Generalized reciprocity
The central paradox of the gift
The Haitian Revolution
Paul Farmer and Structural violence
Rwandan genocide