THEME 7 NOTES – APY1501
Relatives, Relations, Kinship and Family
Introduction:
Human beings are social beings and structure their lives,
particularly their contact and interaction with others, through a web
of associations and relationships.
Anthropologists use the concept kinship, as a broad term, for all
familial relationships that people are born into or establish.
Early ethnographic research documented kinship relationships of
rural, “traditional” or preliterate and pre-industrial communities.
o Such communities organised almost all aspects of their lives
based on kinship and descent.
o Inheritance, property rights, succession to leadership
positions, composition of local groupings and religion were
all organised according to the principles of kinship and
relatedness.
Individualism now often substitutes for kin and family in people’s
lives.
Research is no longer confined to non-Western communities and
the earlier focus on function, social structure, rules and types of
societies shifted to a study of what kin relationships mean to
people.
Present-day studies acknowledge the influence of external power
structures, specifically politics, economy, technology and religion
on social relations.
Feminist anthropologists, critically analysing gender-based
relationship structures that distort power relations and promote
inequality, have also influenced kinship studies.
Contemporary kinship studies are driven by kin-related research in
disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, demography and
history.
Kinship relations are characteristic of all communities and forma n
important basis of the organisation and social life in all
communities.
Families are important social groups that fulfil a crucial role in
identity formation and the socialisation of every individual.
, Studies of modern urban communities confirm that many social
networks are still kinship-based and that significant resources flow
through them.
Anthropological kinship studies:
o Feminist and evolutionary perspectives
o Focus on contemporary questions such as how the different
aspects of a kinship system evolve together in response to
environmental conditions, state action and demographic
change as well as how family systems vary between social
classes.
o Investigate the creation of kinship by means of technological
advances such as artificial insemination and in vitro
fertilisation, as well as transnational adoptions, and other
developing constructions of kinship.
Erikson suggests that although kinship in modern communities
doesn’t always regulate everything – from economic activities and
marriage, to place of residence and value outlooks – there is no
reason to assume that it is so unimportant that anthropologists,
who study these communities, can afford to neglect it.
o Without insight into the ways in which contemporary kinship
relationships are organised and experienced, the behaviour
of members of a society are often incomprehensible.
Ethnographic kinship studies focused on 2 types of relationships:
o Descent – refers to consanguineal kin, meaning people who
are related by birth – blood relations.
o Affinity – refers to affinal kin, meaning people who are
related by marriage.
7.2 Descent Systems:
Descent is one of the major concepts of kinship studies.
o Although descent reckoning is more important in some
sociocultural groups than in others, it is a universal way in
which humans order relationships between individuals.
, Explore 2 of the broader descent systems that commonly occur in
southern Africa:
o Cognatic descent, which is a system that traces descent
through both parents.
The most common pattern is bilateral through the
father and the mother, all 4 grandparents and all 8
great-grandparents and even further back.
o Unilineal descent systems, which is traced through only 1
parent’s family line.
It could be patrilineal, through the father’s line; in this
case, both female and male children belong to their
father’s kin group.
Only males pass on their family identity to their
children.
A woman’s children are members of her husband’s
patrilineal line.
Nguni-speaking communities and the Sotho-speaking
communities.
In the case of matrilineal descent, both male and female children
belong to their mother’s kin group.
o Bemba-speaking groups in Zambia as well as Kavango- and
Wambo-speaking groups in Namibia.
Patri-has to do with the father’s side and matri-with the mother’s
side in a kinship system.
Patrilineal descent systems Matrilineal descent systems
Patronymic: children bear the family Matronymic: children bear the name
name of their father (Fa) of their mother (Mo)
Authority is in the hands of the Authority is in the hands of the
father (Fa) mother’s brother (MoBr)
Patrilineal succession and Matrilineal succession and
inheritance: a man’s place is taken inheritance: a man’s place is taken
by his son (So) and then his son’s by his sister’s son (SiSo) and not
son (SoSo) his own son (So)
Place of residence after marriage is Place of residence after marriage is
usually with the father’s (Fa) people usually with the mother’s (Mo)
people
Relatives, Relations, Kinship and Family
Introduction:
Human beings are social beings and structure their lives,
particularly their contact and interaction with others, through a web
of associations and relationships.
Anthropologists use the concept kinship, as a broad term, for all
familial relationships that people are born into or establish.
Early ethnographic research documented kinship relationships of
rural, “traditional” or preliterate and pre-industrial communities.
o Such communities organised almost all aspects of their lives
based on kinship and descent.
o Inheritance, property rights, succession to leadership
positions, composition of local groupings and religion were
all organised according to the principles of kinship and
relatedness.
Individualism now often substitutes for kin and family in people’s
lives.
Research is no longer confined to non-Western communities and
the earlier focus on function, social structure, rules and types of
societies shifted to a study of what kin relationships mean to
people.
Present-day studies acknowledge the influence of external power
structures, specifically politics, economy, technology and religion
on social relations.
Feminist anthropologists, critically analysing gender-based
relationship structures that distort power relations and promote
inequality, have also influenced kinship studies.
Contemporary kinship studies are driven by kin-related research in
disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, demography and
history.
Kinship relations are characteristic of all communities and forma n
important basis of the organisation and social life in all
communities.
Families are important social groups that fulfil a crucial role in
identity formation and the socialisation of every individual.
, Studies of modern urban communities confirm that many social
networks are still kinship-based and that significant resources flow
through them.
Anthropological kinship studies:
o Feminist and evolutionary perspectives
o Focus on contemporary questions such as how the different
aspects of a kinship system evolve together in response to
environmental conditions, state action and demographic
change as well as how family systems vary between social
classes.
o Investigate the creation of kinship by means of technological
advances such as artificial insemination and in vitro
fertilisation, as well as transnational adoptions, and other
developing constructions of kinship.
Erikson suggests that although kinship in modern communities
doesn’t always regulate everything – from economic activities and
marriage, to place of residence and value outlooks – there is no
reason to assume that it is so unimportant that anthropologists,
who study these communities, can afford to neglect it.
o Without insight into the ways in which contemporary kinship
relationships are organised and experienced, the behaviour
of members of a society are often incomprehensible.
Ethnographic kinship studies focused on 2 types of relationships:
o Descent – refers to consanguineal kin, meaning people who
are related by birth – blood relations.
o Affinity – refers to affinal kin, meaning people who are
related by marriage.
7.2 Descent Systems:
Descent is one of the major concepts of kinship studies.
o Although descent reckoning is more important in some
sociocultural groups than in others, it is a universal way in
which humans order relationships between individuals.
, Explore 2 of the broader descent systems that commonly occur in
southern Africa:
o Cognatic descent, which is a system that traces descent
through both parents.
The most common pattern is bilateral through the
father and the mother, all 4 grandparents and all 8
great-grandparents and even further back.
o Unilineal descent systems, which is traced through only 1
parent’s family line.
It could be patrilineal, through the father’s line; in this
case, both female and male children belong to their
father’s kin group.
Only males pass on their family identity to their
children.
A woman’s children are members of her husband’s
patrilineal line.
Nguni-speaking communities and the Sotho-speaking
communities.
In the case of matrilineal descent, both male and female children
belong to their mother’s kin group.
o Bemba-speaking groups in Zambia as well as Kavango- and
Wambo-speaking groups in Namibia.
Patri-has to do with the father’s side and matri-with the mother’s
side in a kinship system.
Patrilineal descent systems Matrilineal descent systems
Patronymic: children bear the family Matronymic: children bear the name
name of their father (Fa) of their mother (Mo)
Authority is in the hands of the Authority is in the hands of the
father (Fa) mother’s brother (MoBr)
Patrilineal succession and Matrilineal succession and
inheritance: a man’s place is taken inheritance: a man’s place is taken
by his son (So) and then his son’s by his sister’s son (SiSo) and not
son (SoSo) his own son (So)
Place of residence after marriage is Place of residence after marriage is
usually with the father’s (Fa) people usually with the mother’s (Mo)
people
