Exam 3 Notes - Dr. Erick Rochette PDF

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Dr. Erick Rochette...

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Exam 3 Notes 3/18/20

Interdependent varies – kinship often most important

Descent vs. Kinship -

Descent o links through parents/birth/”substance”

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Kinship o Blood + marriage (and other) relations 

Can change

Kinship = EMIC -

Kin cooperate in some way o Work, land, marriage

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Cultures differ in defining relatives o How “descent” is interpreted

Types of Kin Relations -

Consanguineal o Through genes / biology

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Affinal o By marriage – can “marry in”

Corporate Kinship Functions -

Vertical o Social continuity 

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Pass tradition, property, political offices, etc.

Horizontal o Solidifies society across a single generation 

Tribes, families, marriage, etc.

Why is Kinship Important? -

Can’t marry / reproduced with a relative

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Incest prohibition

Why? -

Western kinship – they’re related in same way

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Children of a parent’s sibling – same cultural category “cousin”

Chance of birth defect w/ 1st cousins is same as chance of birth defect past age 41

3/20/20 Kinship Diagrams -

ETIC ways to simplify kinship systems

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Standardized notation

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Kinship diagrams are EGO-centered

Kinship Notation (in reference to EGO) F = father M = mother S = son D = daughter B = brother Z = sister H = husband W = wife

FM (father’s mother) = grandmother HZ (husband’s sister) = sister-in-law MMZ (mother’s mother’s sister) = great aunt *Terms on right are EMIC terms from our own system of kinship*

Kinship Diagram -

Shorthand to simplify kinship systems

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Male

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Female

We can build all genealogical relationships with just these elements: -

Ego o Marriage: W = H

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Ego’s generation: o Sister = Z o Brother = B

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Up one generation: o Mother = M o Father = F

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Down one generation: o Daughter = D o Son = S

Genealogical relations -

Are ETIC realities

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Different cultures combine same relationships to make different systems of kinship

Descent Groups -

Permanent social unit whose members say they have ancestors in common o Descent groups outlive individual members

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Two types: o Unilineal (only male OR female parentage) o Non-unilineal (male AND female parentage)

Unilineal Descent Groups -

Very clear-cut social units o Roles & statuses = well-defined

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Inheritance, prestige, social roles set

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Adaptive in societies that rely on kin groups to perform most social, legal, & political functions

Unilineal Descent -

All descended form common ancestor through either: o Mother’s side = matrilineal o Father’s side = patrilineal

Matrilineal -

Everyone belongs to their mother’s lineage

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Everyone gets their lineage affiliation from their mother

Incest prohibition: can’t marry a relative Lineage systems tell you who is a relative Makes difference between a desirable marriage and incest

What is a sibling? -

“American” system: a person with the same parents

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Incest prohibition most common between siblings and parents & children

In a lineage system -

A “sibling” is a member of the same lineage in the same generation

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Anthropologists call them: PARALLEL COUSINS

Patri or Matrilineal -

People of same generation and same lineage are “siblings”

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People of same generation who are children of your mother’s brother or father’s sister are CROSS COUSINS

3/23/20 Another unilineal descent group -

Clans claim to be related to a common ancestor but unable to trace it genealogically o Multiple lineages o Loosely interpreted o Often associated with a totem

Patrilineages and matrilineages -

Patrilineal systems o Most common unilineal system o Yanomamo (Amazon), Nuer (Sudan)

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Matrilineal systems o 15% of unilineal systems o Hopi, Navajo, Cherokee, and Iroquois o Truk & Trobrianders of Pacific o Bemba, Ashanti, & Yao of Africa o Khasi, Nayar of India

Non-unilineal systems -

Bilateral (cognatic) descent o Related equally to both mother & father’s side o The norm in American society

Kindred -

Bilateral relatives that may be called on for some purpose

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Ego-centered & defined in emic terms

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Individuals belong to different overlapping kindreds

o Think of your cousins, weddings, etc. 3/25/20 Non-unilineal systems -

Bilateral (cognatic) descent o Related equally to both mother & father’s side o The norm in American society

Kindred -

Bilateral relatives that may be called on for some purpose

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Ego-centered & defined in emic terms

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Individuals belong to different overlapping kindreds o Think of your cousins, weddings, etc.

What is a family? -

Social /economic unit

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Reciprocal rights & obligations

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Learning environment for children

American family is: -

Nuclear

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Monogamous

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Bilateral

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Neolocal

Nuclear family household -

Nuclear family o Parent(s) + dependent children

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

Not universally important



Family =/ household

Household – people who cooperate for mutual economic support o Don’t necessarily live together

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Suited when flexibility & freedom of movement are essential

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Examples: o Mobile foragers o Industrial societies

Extended family households -

More frequent among low SES in U.S. o Pool resources & strengthen kin ties o Middle / upper class tends to maintain nuclear family household pattern

3/27/20 Family and Marriage -

Families often formed by marriage

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Marriage: “legal” status that defines particular rights & obligations o Socially recognized

Marital Rights (Leech, 1955) -

Establish legal father of a woman’s children and legal mother of a man’s

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Give either or both spouses a monopoly in the sexuality of the other

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Give either or both spouses rights over the other’s property

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Establish joint property for the benefit of the children

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Establish a social bond between spouses & their relatives

How Many Spouses? -

U.S. & Europe – monogamy is norm & law o Monogamy: marriage to one spouse at a time o Serial monogamy: having multiple spouses in succession (not at same time)

Polygamy -

Most cultures, polygamy permitted

Polygyny -

Several wives share a husband o Most common – 80+% of societies

Why polygyny? -

Common where women do cultivation / production (e.g. horticulture)

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Non-horticultural societies, more wives = create other kin ties

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Polygyny = ideal (not norm_ only 20-40%

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Among Gusii of Kenya, wives = social importance

Polyandry -

Where several husbands share a wife o Uncommon (less than 1% of societies)

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Most common in Tibet, Nepal, & India o Fraternal polyandry: allows for men to keep land

3/30/20 Postmarital Residence Types -

Neolocality (5% of societies)

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Matrilocality (15% of societies)

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Patrilocality (67% of societies)

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Avunculocality (4% of societies)

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Bilocality (7% of societies)

“Love” & Marriage? -

“It’s not man that marries maid, but field marries field, vineyard marries vineyard, cattle marry cattle” – old German saying

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Marriage often has economic aspects o 75% of societies

Bridewealth

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Gift of money/goods from groom or his kin to bride’s kin o NOT to the bride

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Grants groom rights to her children

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44% of societies

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Can provide security to bride’s kin o Bride pressured to stay in a marriage

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More likely where women do a lot of subsistence work

Dowry -

Transfer of goods from bride’s family to the bride, groom, or couple o Helps establish new household

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~20% of societies

Social organization -

How people form into groups

Ideology -

Ideas about how the world works o Cultural codes & ways of understanding world

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Land ownership = EMIC parts of cultures

Adaptive strategies -

Foraging: collecting wild plant and animal foods; energy = human labor

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Subsistence agriculture (horticulture)

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Pastoralism

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Intensive agriculture

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Industrial agriculture

Foraging: our heritage -

12,000+ years ago o All human groups relied on foraging

Foraging -

95% of human history

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Today – 250k foragers (.005%)

4/1/20 Settlement & mobility -

Move to resources o Seasonally and occasionally o Marginal environment

Foraging -

Many “manage” natural resources

Mobile foragers -

Don’t store food for long periods of time o Not enough or can’t be stored o Starvation and famine are rare

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Goal: fulfill needs at lowest cost

Optimal foraging theory -

Pursue/harvest species that give maximum energy return for time spent

Adaptive strategies -

All 4 strategies involve the use of domesticated plants and/or animals o Foraging o Horticulture o Pastoralism o Intensive agriculture o Industrial agriculture

Domestication -

Phenotypic & genotypic differences

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Species dependent on humans for dispersal, protection, & reproduction

Just six plant genera have supported largest, most complex societies: -

Rice

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Wheat

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Barley

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Maize (corn)

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Potatoes

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Millet

All are staple foods

Agriculture -

Human efforts to modify environments of domesticated plants & increase productivity and usefulness

Horticulture -

“garden cultivation” o Polyculture o Little surplus

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KEY: local inputs & human labor ONLY

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Slash & burn (swidden) agriculture o Ca. 5% of territory in production in any year o “extensive” agriculture o Land needs time to regenerate fertility

Adaptive strategies -

Foraging

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Subsistence agriculture (horticulture) o Produce food; energy = human labor

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Pastoralism

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Intensive agriculture o Energy = non-human & human energy

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Industrial agriculture

Intensive agriculture -

Investment of energy to gain even greater return in energy o But intensification is limited

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Work harder

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Terrace land

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Add fertilizers

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Traction animals

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Irrigation

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Energy invest AND extracted increase

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Can produce surplus & sustain more people and more non-producers

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Monoculture

Agriculture & risk -

Intensive ag. = all eggs in one large, stable basket

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Horticulture = eggs in many smaller baskets o One fails, still have other baskets

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Ca. 11% of earth suitable to intensive agriculture...