ANTH/WMNS 326 Issues in the Anthropology of Kinship
Jan.
3, 8, 10, 15: INTRODUCTION: What is kinship? Is it process (culturally
constructed, practice, flexible, etc.) or is it a normative structure
(i.e. based on relatively fixed cultural ideas of “blood” or other
substance, related to social expectations of kin roles, inheritance
rules, etc.)? ALSO basics of kinship terminology.
Required readings: Miller, Daniel (2007) “What is a relationship? Is kinship negotiated experience?” Ethnos. 72(4): 535 —554.
Jackson, C. (2015) “Modernity and matrifocality: The feminization of kinship?” Development and Change. 46(1): 1-24.
Objective:
Provides an overview of the historical frameworks through which
anthropologists have understood kinship. Provides an introduction to
the conceptual tools used to record and understand kinship systems.
Provides two contemporary views of kinship: Miller’s more culturalist
(he says material culturalist) view, and Jackson’s more political
economy feminist view.
How to read:
- what is the purpose of the work?
- is it an academic article? (i.e. in a
refereed journal; has an argument; presents evidence that is analysed
using definitions, concepts, theory; takes the form of an essay)
- a report? (i.e. simply presents information,
with perhaps a conclusion based on evidence, but is not a theoretically
analysed work)
- a polemical
article? (i.e. is an argument, but tends to be light on the evidence
and analysis)
- a popular
press article? (i.e. is in a newspaper or magazine; tends to present
information in accessible language)
- related to
the above question is to ask why you are reading the article, or why
your professor chose it – in the latter case, use cues from the course
outline; for example, if it is in a section called “theory,” then you
can assume that the work is being used to represent a specific theory
[since most of what you will read in this course is academic, the rest of the questions assume that]
- what is the argument? (Look for words like “argument,” “suggest,” “takes the view,” etc.)
- what is the type of evidence being used?
- what assumptions are made, or what definitions and theoretical framework are being used or presented?
- reflect on the argument and analysis to figure out if you are
convinced, or what other implications it might have
Reading Miller:
Argument
Theory
Context
Analysis
Conclusion
Engaging with the content of the article:
- reviewing the history of the anthropology of kinship:
- structural/classificatory kinship (what are the different forms of kinship systems?)
- functional kinship (how is kinship used by people?)
- cultural kinship (Schneider, etc.; is there
such a thing as kinship? What are the diverse, flexible ways kinship is
negotiated?)
- what are the implications of these different positions?
- what are the implications of Miller’s position?
- how are diverse and dynamic kin practices
linked to widespread and fairly static ideas of kin form and
expectations?
Understanding kin terms: kinship terminology and symbols
Jackson: themes of historical change, modernization, gender, matrifocality
Effective reading: paying attention to structure
- Jackson does a particularly good job of structuring her paper,
and of telling us what is involved in each section. Even if the
concepts and argument are new and complex, the reader can learn much
simply by paying attention to her cues.
- anatomizing Jackson
- note how Jackson uses some of the same terms as Miller (relatedness, for example)
- she also similarly accepts that kinship is dynamic
- like Miller, she is not interested in
examining structure (e.g. patrilineality or matrilineality); rather,
like him is interested in the “form” of matrifocality
- unlike Miller, her primary interest is to examine how political
(e.g. state policy) and economic (e.g. male work migration, new
gendered divisions of labour) and other material processes (e.g.
urbanization) affect how people practice kin relations
Group work on kin diagrams
next
