Lecture TopicsKinshipDescent groupsKinship terminologyFamilies, Kinship, and DescentFamily, kinship, descent, and marriage are the basic building blocks of societyHow people organize themselvesHow people are related to each other or not related to each otherKinship:Structured and organized human relationships of interdependenceFamiliesThe beginning of kinship starts with:Family:Two or more people related by “blood,” marriage, or adoption“Blood”  biological connectionAdoption  including someone in a kin group who is not biologically relatedFamily functionsNurturing childrenEducation of childrenOur children require care for many, many yearsEconomic cooperationThere are different kinds of familiesDifferent cultures think about families in different waysNuclear families:Mom + Dad + Children = nuclear familyNuclear family is not the same as a descent groupImpermanent kinship structureFamily of orientation  the family that we are born intoMom, dad, siblingsFamily of procreation  the family that you marry intoWife, husband, childrenNot everyone goes through this processFamilies CHANGE over the course of your lifetimeExtended families:Cousins, aunt/uncles, grandparents, ect.Can be families of procreation and orientationNuclear FamilyThe nuclear family is not a universal human traitNot everyone thinks of family in terms of nuclear familySome think of the extended family as the primary family unitEX: Nayar – IndiaTarawad householdMen do not live with their wivesFamily is about grandma, mom, aunts, sisters, unclesUncles is the primary male role model in children’s livesFamily and IdealsU.S. family ideal is the “nuclear” familyPreferred family social unitAround 20% of U.S. families are now “nuclear”Most people do not live in nuclear familiesEX: divorce, single-parent householdsBrazilian family ideal is the “extended” familySee the extended as the primary family unitDescent GroupsDescent groupA permanent social unit whose members claim common ancestryDoes not change over a person’s lifetimeGenealogical relationship3 ways the we define descent:UnilininealRelationships are recognized through one line of descent, whether mother’s OR father’s kin lineDo not recognize descent on both sides of the familyMatrilinealOnly the mother’s side of the familyPatrilinealOnly the father’s side of the familyMost common kind of descent societies, more matrilineal societies than patrilineal societiesAmbilinealPeople can choose to recognize relationships through either the mother’s OR the father’s linesVery uncommonYou choose which side of the family you want to recognize relationships throughDo not recognize relationships on both sides at the same timeEX: Hawaiians use ambilineal descentBilateralRelationships are recognized through both lines of descentThrough the mother and father’s lines of descentEX: use here in the U.S.Forms of Descent GroupsThree different forms:1) LineageA descent groups with a common known ancestorPatrilineages:The male line  base descent on one male ancestorDaughters leave their patrilineagePatrilocal  fathers and sons tend to live in the same locationMatrilineagesThe female line  base descent on one femal ancestorSons leave their matrilieage when they get marriedMatrilocal2) ClanMembers believe they have a common ancestorMay not specify the genealogical linksMade up of several lineagesLong historical backgroundAncestor is often a mythical figureNonhuman ancestors are called totemsTotem polls3) Bilateral Kindred GroupMembership is based on recognizing close relatives on the mother’s and father’s sideCan get incredibility largeKinship and DescentKinship systemsStructured and organized human relationships of interdependenceFamilyNuclear familyExtended familyFamily of orientationFamily of procreation3 principles for defining descentKinship and DescentKinship systemsStructured and organized human relationships of interdependenceFamily  impermanent kinship units; the family unit itself changes over timeNuclear familyExtended familyFamily or orientationThe family that you are born intoFamily of procreationThe family that you marry into3 principles for defining descent (not coexisting)Unilateral descentOne line of the familyMatrilineal or PatrilinealAmbilineal descentEither mother or father’s sideCan change throughout a persons lifeBilateral descentRecognize both the mother’s and the father’s side of the family3 kinds of descent groupsLineageAncestralClanMade up of multiple lineagesShare descent with multiple ancestorsBilateral Kinship GroupRecognize both sides of the familyDescend from both sides of the familyIndistinct groupsEither or side of the family (family reunions)Kinship CalculationClassification systems based on how cultures perceive their social worldsDifferences in terminologyDifferent societies think about kinship in different waysThere are different classification systems for kinshipTerminologyNo two individuals will have the same kinshipHowever, general patterns do existCousins = FBS, FBD, MBS, MBDParallel cousins  the children of a person’s parents’ same-sex siblingsEX: Mother’s sister’s childrenCross cousins  the children of a person’s parent’ opposite-sex siblingsEX: Father’s sister’s childrenKinship TerminologyFour kinship classification systems1) Lineal TerminologyParental generation has four termsMother, father, uncle (FB, MB), aunt (MZ, FZ)Distinguishes relatives in a direct line (lineal) from all other relatives (collateral and affinal)Collateral  relative off to one side (aunt, uncle)Affinal  relative by marriage (in-laws)EX: Eskimo Pattern2) Bifurcate Merging TerminologySplits mother’s relatives from father’s relativesBifurcate  means cuttingEither only about the mother’s side of the family or only about the father’s side of the familyMerges the same-sex siblings of the parent with one termMother, father, mother’s brother, father’s sisterNo aunt and uncleMother’s sister  has the same term as motherSame with father’s brotherEX: Iroquois Pattern, Crow Pattern(the Iroquois today do not use this patter)3) Generational TerminologyDistinguishes only between generations and sexParental generation has two termsMother and fatherMerging same-sex sibling (uncle/aunt) with their parentsUsually among Ambilineal societiesEX: Hawaiian PatternDon’t distinguish between siblings and cousins4) Bifurcate Collateral Terminologydistinguish relatives by mother’s or