Kinship

Kinship is an introduction to the social anthropology of kinship—exploring how the peoples of different cultures marry and relate to each other within and outside the family. Additionally, it examines the means by which one generation relates to those that come before and after it.

Although primarily addressed to students of anthropology, Kinship serves as a comprehensive guide for social historians, demographers, and geographers who need to understand patterns of kinship across various cultures and times.

The book is divided into two parts. Part I opens with a discussion of what kinship means to the social anthropologist, distinguishing it from the biological perspective. It also considers the various approaches to the subject within social anthropology itself. The subsequent chapters cover topics such as descent, inheritance, succession, the family, residence, marriage, kinship terminology, systems of affinal alliance, the new reproductive technologies, and symbolic approaches to kinship.

Part II offers an overview of theoretical debates concerning different aspects of kinship in its first four chapters. The final chapter provides ethnographic examples, accompanied by an annotated guide to further reading, organised by chapter.