4 Kinship Human Ecology and Economic Systems kinship a classic anthropological concern not only biological also cultural every society has a way of naming and recognizing a sense of organic continuity being of the same blood as someone else and some sense of mutual obligation solidarity consanguineal kin relations are based on shared blood that is biological relatedness affinal kin relations are kin relations based on marriage that is in laws fictive kin relations identify an unrelated individual as a member of the kin group every culture chooses which kin relationships are important to recognize descent systems of reckoning consanguinal kin unilateral descent descent is traced through ancestors of only one sex bilateral descent traced through either both parents even though a child belongs to only one parent s lineage they may have certain obligations to the other parents line american kinship groups typically bilateral network defined by ego s known relatives latent kinship ties to kin outside the network that you usually keep in touch with can be activated in certain circumstances kinship patterns marriage a relationship between two people recognized by society as having a continuing claim to mutual sexual access some form of marriage is a human universal mating concerns only individuals and their offspring marriage concerns the whole society it is culturally sanctioned and is backed by legal economic and social forces polygamy any marriage system involving more than one partner of one gender polygyny one man multiple wives polyandry one woman multiple husbands polyamory involving multiple partners of any gender combination residence patterns refer to where a couple lives patrilocal with husband s patrilineal kin matrilocal with wife s matrilineal kin avunculocal with wife s brother children s uncle ambilocal near whichever family is convenient has more resources neolocal somewhere new not close to either family incest sexual relations with someone related to you endogamy marrying within some culturally defined group exogamy marrying outside some culturally defined group ecology hunter gatherers inuit hunting and gathering traditional patterns conflict with inuit desires to continue their traditional way of life environment scarce plant resources mobile irregular game supply different animals are available for exploitations in different seasons inuit groups follow a seasonal round of movements to use resources in different areas as they become available contemporary challenges environmental regulations on whaling have come into baka the people of the forest men hunt trap with poisoned arrows gather honey from hives in trees fish using plant based chemicals that drive fish to the surface women dam fishing gather wild fruits nuts beekeeping pastoralism subsistence farming based on care of herds of domesticated animals holism theory that the universe and especially living nature is seen in terms of interacting wholes that are more than the mere sum of elementary particles 1 marriage cattle is received from a daughter s marriage by her mother s kipsigis and inheritance rift valley kenya rules 1 father s property is divided equally between his houses 2 within houses property is divided equally between full brothers brides wealth payment by groom to bride s family for rights to marriage house fatherhood the contractual nature of paternity among pastoralists pater is the person whose name marriage cattle are given pater father as in person with social responsibilities and obligations genitor father as in person who impregnated mother 2 they are shared equally by the bride s full brothers transition to agriculture we often look at other ways of life and especially at past ways of life from the ethnocentric standpoint that assumes that the way we do things now must be the best way we often frame our history as one story of progress paleopathology study of signs of disease in remains of ancient peoples agriculture created more plentiful starches longer days harder work resulting in shorter birth spacing earlier weaning use of cereal products as weaning foods malnutrition greater risk of starvation epidemic diseases class divisions agriculture is encouraged by population growth with a resulting negative health impact on young children modern illness hypertension heart disease bad teeth osteoporosis obesity the transition to agriculture also included degenerative and traumatic pathologies why would we transition to agriculture elite became better off most became worse off 100 malnourished farmers can still outfight 1 healthy hunter it s not that hunter gatherers abandoned their lifestyle but that those sensible enough not to abandon it were forced out of all areas except the one s farmer s didn t want economic systems human ecology study of how humans interact with their environment including how they extract resources from the earth economics study of how we produce distribute and consume resources economy system of production adaptive strategy a society s system of economic production mode of production a way of organizing production similar adaptive strategies similar modes of production differences in mode of production may reflect differences in environments target resources or cultural traditions in non industrial societies there is a more personal relationship between the worker and the means of production that in industrial nations non industrial societies have a less permanent but more personal bond to land industrial workers have impersonal relations with their products employers coworkers classical economics profit motive economic anthropology numerous motives principles of exchange 1 market principle means of production are bought and sold using money to maximize profit and value is determined by supply demand 2 redistribution operates when goods services or their equivalent move from the local level to a center 3 reciprocity exchange between social equals close personal tie return possible generalized give to another expects nothing in return balanced between people more distantly related expects something in negative exchanges where someone tries to get something for as little as balanced and generalized reciprocity prevent negative