Kinship and Descent Chapter 10. What Is Kinship? Kinship is a social network of relatives within...
-
Upload
regina-park -
Category
Documents
-
view
242 -
download
3
Transcript of Kinship and Descent Chapter 10. What Is Kinship? Kinship is a social network of relatives within...
Kinship and DescentKinship and DescentChapter 10
What Is Kinship?What Is Kinship?
Kinship is a social network of relatives within which individuals have rights and obligations.
Kinship is especially important in societies where institutions such as a centralized government, a
professional military, or financial banks are absent or ineffective.
Descent groups are a major type of Kinship category…
What Is a Descent Group?What Is a Descent Group?
A descent group is a kind of kinship group in which being in the direct line of descent from a real or mythical ancestor is a criterion of membership.
Provides aid and security to members. Stores religious
tradition. Keeps group members together by worship of
a common ancestor.
Descent GroupsDescent Groups
Unilineal descent◦ Descent that establishes group membership
through either the mother’s or the father’s line, but not through both!!!
Matrilineal descent◦ Descent traced exclusively through the
female line to establish group membership.Patrilineal descent
◦ Descent traced exclusively through the male line to establish group membership.
Unilineal Descent GroupsUnilineal Descent Groups
Lineage◦ Descended from a common ancestor who
lived four to six generations ago, and in which relationships among members can be stated genealogically.
Clan ◦ Often consisting of several lineages, whose
members claim common descent from a remote ancestor, usually legendary or mythological.
Descent Integrated in the Descent Integrated in the Cultural SystemCultural SystemProblems with changing societal valuesProblems with changing societal values
When traditional cultural systems meet new politically-introduced societal ideas of right and wrong, conflicts of morality occur:◦Ex: Honor Killings in Northern Albania
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/europe-eastern/albania_bloodfeud.html
Patrilineal Descent GroupsPatrilineal Descent Groups
Male members trace their descent from a common male ancestor.
A female belongs to the same descent group as her father and his brother.◦…but her offspring do not
Authority over the children lies with the father or his elder brother.
Patrilineal Descent Patrilineal Descent DiagramDiagram
Matrilineal Descent GroupsMatrilineal Descent Groups
Descent is traced through the female line. A male belongs to the same descent
group as his mother and her sister.…but his offspring do not.
Does not confer public authority on women, but women have more say in decision making than in patrilineal societies.
Common in societies where women perform much of the productive work.
Tracing Matrilineal DescentTracing Matrilineal Descent
Related TermsRelated Terms
Fission: The splitting of a descent group into two or more new descent groups.
Totemism: The belief that people are related to particular animals, plants, or natural objects by virtue of descent from common ancestral spirits.
KindredKindred
Membership is determined not by descent from a common ancestor (as in descent groups) but by the fact that they share a living relative (EGO).
A small circle of paternal and maternal relatives.
A kindred is never the same for any two persons except siblings.
The KindredThe Kindred
QuestionQuestion
When the membership of a descent group grows too large, ___________ may occur, creating two new, smaller lineages.
A. fusionB. lineal decreaseC. fissionD. exogamyE. moietization
Answer: CAnswer: C
When the membership of a descent group grows too large, fission may occur, creating two new, smaller lineages.
Kinship TerminologiesKinship Terminologies
The Hawaiian systemThe Eskimo systemThe Iroquois systemOmaha systemCrow systemSudanese or descriptive system
Eskimo SystemEskimo System
System of kinship terminology, also called lineal system, that emphasizes the nuclear family by specifically identifying the mother, father, brother, and sister, while lumping together all other relatives into broad categories such as uncle, aunt, and cousin.
Eskimo SystemEskimo System
Hawaiian SystemHawaiian System
Kinship reckoning in which all relatives of the same sex and generation are referred to by the same term.
Hawaiian Hawaiian SystemSystem
Iroquois SystemIroquois SystemIt’s complicated…It’s complicated…
• Kinship terminology wherein a father and father’s brother are given a single term, as are a mother and mother’s sister, but a father’s sister and mother’s brother are given separate terms.
• Parallel cousins are classified with brothers and sisters, while cross cousins are classified separately, but (unlike Crow and Omaha kinship) not equated with relatives of some other generation.
Iroquois Iroquois SystemSystem