Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Subsistence Strategies

 

Adaptation: the process by which organisms achieve beneficial adjustments to their available environment.


Human beings exhibit a very high level of PLASTICITY (adaptability to many environments). They do this not through the process of genetic evolution, but through CULTURE! Culture is a adaptive system.

ECOSYSTEM: a system or functioning whole composed of both physical environment and organisms that live in it.
  • each has a CARRYING CAPACITY. This is defined as the number of human beings it can support due to its limiting resource(s).
  • Although you do not need to memorize the ecosystems in your text, notice that there are adaptation that are impossible or very difficult in some ecosystems. They may also have low carrying capacities for human beings and may entail major alterations of the environment to support them. these can be a great strain on the environment.
    • tundra
    • desert
    • grassland
    • temperate forest
    • mountain zones
    • icelands
Two basic kinds of subsistence systems.
  • Food Gatherers
    • hunters and gatherers (H/G)
  • Food Producers
    • horticulture (extensive)
      • pastoral (animal focused)
      • horticulture (plant focused)
    • agriculture (intensive)
      • agrarian (nonindustrial)
      • industrial
*we will go over this more when we speak about ECONOMIC SYSTEMS


    Hunting & Gathering Subsistence Strategies
    • collect wild plants and animals
    • bands (political organization)
    • 25 people (small)
    • egalitarian (social structure)
    • sharing (reciprocity based economic system)
    • diet: 95% plant food / 5% animal protein
    • child spacing- 5 years
      • prolonged nursing
      • birth control 
      • passive infanticide
    • few material possessions
    • bilateral (kinship patterns)
    • dependence/independence training
    • nomadic
    • highly varied food sources
    • very healthy population free from most disease
    Hunting & Gathering Culture: Wadani of Rain Forest


    Example of Australia
    Evolution from Foraging to Pastoralism: film Links
      Horticultural Subsistence Strategies (extensive agriculture-land expensive)
      • domesticate plants &/or animals (focused on one)
      • increased land use
      • simple tool kit for production
      • egalitarian/ranked (social structure)
      • tribal (political organization)
      • 100-250 people
      • strategies do not alter the carrying capacity of the environment
      • fecundity (high levels of childbirth)
      • dependence training
      • unilineal (kinship)
      • communal ownership (economic exchange)
      pastoral (animal focused)                                        horticulture (Plant focused)

      transhumant                                                                sedentary
      animal focused with no plant domesticates           plant focused with animal cash crops
      mixed subsistence                                                     slash and burn (swidden)
      patrilineal (kinship)                                                    matrilineal & patrilineal
      Agricultural Subsistence Strategies (intensive agriculture)
      Agraraian (non-industrial ) rice farming



      Advanced agriculture (industrial) Israel 
      • domesticate plants AND animals
      • alter environment to increase carrying capacity of land
        • fertilization
        • irrigation
        • plow/draft animals
      • 500-millions of people
      • chiefdoms and states (political structure)
      • redistributive/surplus economies
      • ranked and stratified political systems
      • lineal kin ownership
      • sedentary
      • complex tool kit
      • mono-crop production
      • greater output on less land
      • poor nutrition & famine prone
      industrial agriculture
      • individual ownership
      • industrial tools & technologies
      • increased population density and population
      • increased productivity
      • bilateral kinship

      Political Systems

       


      Political systems are the means through which a society maintains soscial order and reduces social disorder.To accomplish this, political systems act to do the following:

      • SOCIAL CONTROL
      • CONFLICT RESOLUTION (when order is disturbed and conflict arises)
      This enatils having vested POWER.

      Power is the ability to choose your own fate and the fate of others.
      Types of Power:
      • LegitimateThis is power vested in consensus. It is based on ones ability to persuade others.
      • CoerciveThis is power vested in force or threat of force.
      Aspects of power:
      • Informal: Also known as "influence", not vested by the social structure.Exercised informally.
      • Formal: Clearly vested by the social structure, exercised formally under rules.
      KINDS OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS:
      • Decentralized Systems
        • Band
          • nomadic
          • hunters & gatherers
          • informal leadership
            • based on individual qualities and skills
            • situational
          •  emphasis on group HARMONY (resolving conflicts) & CONSENSUS, rather than adhering to abstract principles.
          • legitimate power
          • Social control achieved through public opinion, gossip, ritual action
        • Tribe
          • separate bands or other groupings occupying a specific region which speak a common language, share a common culture and are integrated by some unifying factor (like clan membership)
          • horticultural & pastoral sociaties
          • unilineal
          • clan (kinship) is the seat of political power
          • legitimate power based on
            • age 
            • knowledge (wisdom)
            • bravery
            • gender
      • Big Man societies: 
        • personal authority based on WEALTH
        • Judged by their GENEROSITY (make loans)
        • political entrepreneurs 
      • Centralized Systems: Formally defined, centralized leaderships comes about as populations increase and surplus economies are established in the place of subsistence economies.
        • Chiefdom: Ranked society in which every member has a position (status) within the hierarchy. This status is determined by membership in a kin group.
          • CHIEF: has true coercive authority, hereditary position
            • may be a hierarchy of chiefs
            • amass large amounts of personal wealth and are responsible for redistribution
          • highly unstable
          • warfare is endemic
          • agricultural and pastoral societies
      • State: most formal political organization, highly centralized government with large bureaucracies which is backed by coercive authority and adhere to laws (abstract concepts) to achieve political goals.
        • delegation of authority on a hierarchy
          • impersonal
          • "unbiased"
        • stratified societies
        • large populations which are diverse in their core values
        • intensive specialization of labor
        • market economies
        • unstable
      SOCIAL CONTROL:
      Forms of Control (use of power)
      • Internalized Controls: beliefs that are thoroughly engrained in each person, so that they feel personally responsible for their own behavior.
        • fear of punishment
        • disgust (i.e. incest)
        • shame
        • fear of supernatural retribution
      • Externalized Controls: institutions designed to encourage conformity to social norms
        • Sanctions
          • positive-express approval (rewards)
            • awards
            • titles
            • recognition
          • negative-express disapproval (punishments)
            • threat of punishment
            • humiliation
            • imprisionment
            • ostricism
      Types of Sanctions:
      • Formal Sanctions (LAWS):
        • attempt to precisely and explicitly regulate behavior
        • articulated and backed by institutions in society
        • CRIME : breech of a law 
        • Functions:
          • define relationships among member of society
          • allocate authority to employ coercion in enforcement of sanctions
          • redefine social relationships and ensure social flexibility (change with culture change)
      •  Informal Sanctions:
        • diffuse in nature
        • involve spontaneous expressions of approval and disapproval by members of a group or community
          • witchcraft
          • gossip
          • vigilantism
      CONFLICT RESOLUTION 
      • Negotiation
        • All views aired
        • direct communication
        • common resolution between disputing parties
        • goal: reestablish harmony/diffuse conflict
      • Mediation
        • all views aired
        • direct communication w/help of unbiased party (mediator)
        • common resolution between disputing parties
        • goal: reestablish harmony/diffuse conflict
      • Adjudication
        • Only select views aired (relevant)
        • communication through adjudicator who has authority
        • resolution determined by adjudicator
        • goal: appeal to abstract laws
      WARFARE (external conflict vs feuding)

      Thursday, November 12, 2020

      Economic Systems

       


      Definition: A system in which goods and services are PRODUCED, DISTRIBUTED and EXCHANGED


      • All economic activity has CULTURAL MEANING, and economic processes can not be understood without considering culture.
      How does Culture set the RULES and determine the MEANINGS and VALUES assigned to objects and actions?
      • sentimental value
      • religious/ritual value
      • asthetic value (art)
      • Desirability
        • fad/fashion/vogue
        • exclusivity
        • sameness
        • political correctness
        • fame
        • antiquity/novelty
      PRODUCTION:
      How does culture assign rules and meanings to production?
      • CONTROL OF RESOURCES
        • Patterns of labor
          • sexual division of labor
            • flexibility versus rigid segregation
            • dual systems
          • caste (varna)
          • age
            • commencement of work
            • special stages of work
            • retirement
      • SPECIALIZATION
        • Generalized: everyone performs the same tasks (exception= age & sex)
          • h/g
          • horticultural societies (small, plant based)
      • Part-time specialization
        • pastoral
        • large horticultural
      • Full-time specialization
        • agriculture (agrarian & industrial)
      • Cooperation
        • HOUSEHOLD: basic economic unit & social unit
        • usually the base of cooperative work
        • vary in composition and function with kinship patterns
      • CONTROL OF LAND
        • How will land resources be allocated?
          • H/G: no real ownership. Cultural group has a "range" in which they can carry out subsistence and economic activities. Based o0n needs and physical landmarks
          • Non-Industrial: Kinship determines ownership and control of land resources
            • lineage
            • clan 
      • Feudal: Chief/Noblility own land and peasants/lineal members use it for production.
      • Industrial: Private ownership of land
      • TECHNOLOGY: 
        • Relates to the subsistence strategy
          • h/g: few tools and disposable. No ownership
          • Horticultural/Pastoral: few tools owned by kin group
            • axe, net, digging stick, containers, etc.
            • share or lend these tools on demand
      •  agricultural: large tool kit either product of industrial revolution or not
        • privately owned
        • conditions for lending (rental)
      all cultures have rules and regulations for the manufacturing, use and ownership of technology for the means of production and products of production.

      EXCHANGE & DISTRIBUTION:(3 kinds)
      • RECIPROCITY: The exchange of goods and services of equal value between parties
        • Generalized: neither the exact value or the time in which the transaction must be completed are specified
          • practiced within household or amongst kin
          • gift giving
          • social IOU
        • Balanced: Not part of a long term process. The value and time for completion of the transaction are stated.
      •  Negative: Participants try to get the better of the exchange
        • barter
        • steal
        • "silent trade"
      • REDISTRIBUTION: Occurs where governments are centralized enough to control surplus. (larger horticultural and agricultural societies) Need:
      • WHY COLLECT AND REDISTRIBUTE
        • ethos of egalitarianism will want to spread wealth
        • passify/control the masses
        • create common infrastructure
        • fund governments 
        • "leveling mechanisms"
          • found in societies with an egalitarian ethic
            • h/g
            • simple horticulture
            • industrial agriculture
            • examples:
              • Mayan Cargo system
              • graduated income tax
              • tithing/charity
              • Potlatch (Northwest coast chiefdoms)-see film in next blog post
        • "conspicuous consumption" (Veblen): the display of wealth for social prestige
          • usually in industrial societies
            • cars, furs, jewelry, designer brands, trophy bride, mansion, etc
      • potlatch (weddings, bar mitzvahs, etc)
      • MARKET EXCHANGE: the buying and selling of goods and services 
        • with prices set by the forces of SUPPLY AND DEMAND
        • using ABSTRACT CURRENCY  
        • in a CENTRAL MARKETPLACE
          • can be real or virtual
          • traditional marketplace in nonindustrial societies is locus of much social and economic activity (socializing, gossip, news exchanged)
      • Found in STATE level societies
      CONSUMPTION
      culturally defined rules for what is "consumed" in all cultures
      • kosher
      • pets are not food
      • environmental exploitation
      • OPT 

      All economic activity has SOCIAL MEANING:
      • kula ring (Trobriand Islands)
      • compandrazgo (Latin America) 
      • Mayan cargo system
      • potlatch
      • giving to charity

      Tuesday, November 10, 2020

      Social Structure and Inequality

       

      There are levels of relationship beyond those of either affinal on consanguineal ties.These are groupings by age, sex, and common interest.


      AGE & SEX:
      • all cultures make distinctions based on age & sex (as we learned when we spoke about division of labor)
        • SEX: 
          • degree of sexual segregation
            • living arrangements
            • division of labor
            • menstruation taboos
            • symbolic segregation
      • rigidity of sex roles
        • hunters and gatherers (flexible)
        • horticulturalists (rigid)
        • institutionalized homosexuality & sexual ambuguity
      • symbolic value placed on sex roles & activities
        • which carry greater prestige, men's or women's roles?
      • Iroquois example• matrilineal society, matrilocal • women were in charge of the economy, of the house, of subsistence, of inheritance • men in charge of hunting, warring, raiding, trading, diplomacy • when men were in the village, they lived with and slept with the women • men and women were separate-but-equal • low incidence of intra-group rate• but high incidence of rape outside of group• Mundurucu example (Brazilian Amazon) • men lived separately from the women• men and boys older than 13 live together • all females and all children under 13 live together • women's buildings are grouped around the men's• separation validated by mythic belief in power struggle over the sacred trumpets (represents the generative power of women) which women lost because they were not able to hunt, which was necessary to satisfy the trumpet spirits' desire for meat• the trumpet is kept in the men's lodge • if a woman enters to look at it, she may be gang-raped• great hostility and fear between men and women• Haviland suggests that the Mundurucu are like people in American society • how is this parallel supportable?• rule by men replacing matriarchal rule was held by many 19th century scholars • difference: women in Mundurucu society have had more control over their economic life than women in traditional European (and USA) societies• this is slowly changing now IN WESTERN SOCIETY, but not even to the level that Mundurucu women enjoy!• how valid is it?
      • AGE
        • Western culture
          • educational system
      • Nonwestern culture
        • plays a significant role and is more carefully delineated
        • transition through riual from one age (stage) to another
        • teaches needed skills
        • economic and subsistence activities are organized around them
        • AGE GRADES & AGE SETS
          • age grades are categories/stages of people based on age
            • every individual passes through a series of such categories in the course of a lifetime
            • membership is automatic and may be accomplished individually or as a group
            • ritual usually accompanies transition from one stage to another
          • age sets groupings of persons initiated into age grades at the same time
            • move through a series of categories together
      • Example of an age set society: the Tiriki of East Africa: Kenya 
      • the members stay with the same group of people through their lifetimes • the age sets are divided into people who fall into 15 year periods • sort of similar to our idea of generations• only as a comparison, as a basis for thinking about them • difference: the people in a trueage set are a community, do things together, share similar symbols, eat, drink, act, do all things together, appropriate to their age (whatever that may be at whatever stage in life they are at)• only one of the 7 age sets in this society is open at a time • four (4) age grades exist in conjunction with these age sets• the people in age sets move into and out of age grades in the same 15 year cycle that exists for the age sets• the 4 age grades of the Tiriki of East Africa• Warrior age grade• once the guardians of the people • since colonized, they now leave the community to study or work abroad• Elder Warriors • administrators • acted as negotiators for their community with other communities • learned skills for the later age grades• Judicial Elders • served as the local judges, judging local disputes• Ritual Elders • served over ritual functions; served as the functional equivalents of priests • credited as having special access to magic, to spirits, to ancestors
      Example:
      As amongst other East African herders, men are formed into named ‘age sets’, and pass through a number of ‘age grades’ during the course of their lives. Married women have the same age grade status as their husbands. By becoming a member of an age set (teny) a man achieves full social adulthood (hirimo), although this may happen long after he has reached physical maturity. Members of the most recent set to be formed occupy the grade of rora, which may be translated as ‘junior elders’. When a new set is formed, the previous rora become bara, or ‘senior elders’ and the previous bara become karui, or ‘retired elders’.
      It is the bara of a local community who are expected to play the leading role in reaching decisions about matters of public concern and to be most active in public meetings. But some bara are more politically ambitious than others, and these will be more active in public life. Some are also more highly regarded than others for their statesmanlike qualities and oratorical skills, although none have the right to make decisions on behalf of the community as a whole.
      The rora are often described as the equivalent of the Ethiopian police force or army. Their job is to assist the bara in ensuring the safety of people and of the herds and the smooth running of internal community relations. Depending on the interval between the formation of successive sets, however, this ideal division of tasks may not reflect the social reality for many men. The most recent set, known as Geleba (the Mursi name for the Dassanetch, who live in the lower basin of the Omo), was formed in 1991. This was thirty years after the formation of the previous set, Benna (Stones), which now occupies the bara grade. Because the Geleba set has an age span of thirty years (its youngest members are now around 30 and its oldest members around 60), some senior members of the set, although officially rora, play a role in public decision making which is indistinguishable from that which, according to the ideal, is expected of bara.
      Each local group (bhuran) holds its own age set formation ceremony (nitha) in the same year, and according to a strict order of precedence. This begins with the southern group, Ariholi, followed by Gongulobibi and then Dola. Ariholi, which is known as the ‘stomach’ (kiango) of the country, has priority because it was the first part of current Mursi territory to be settled. In 1991 the Ariholi ceremony was held at Kurum, on the left bank of the Omo, and was organized and presided over by the late Ulijeholi Garana.
      • COMMON  INTEREST ASSOCIATIONS
        • associations not based on age, kinship, sex, marriage or territory
        • Voluntary associations
        • examples:
          • recreation
          • friendship
          • government
          • expressions of rank
          • economic interest
          • social function
          • benevolent sociaties
          • ritual groups
          • hertiage
      • are highly elaborated in western and industrial societies all though they exist in all cultures.
      • serve important functions in cultures undergoing rapid change
      • assume roles and functions formally held by kinship or age groups
      • "urban associations"

      Social Organization: How human beings relate to one another and achieve individual power through group actions and decisions.


      STATUS: the amount of power and prestige you have access to in any society (indicated through)
      • verbal evaluation
      • symbolic evaluation
        • occupation
        • wealth
        • dress
        • recreation
        • residential location
        • lifestyle
        • stature/health/physical marking
      • patterns of association 
      ROLE: the job that you perform as a member of your culture.
      *status may determine role and/or role may determine status depending on the social organization.

      LEVELS OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
      • Egalitarian Societies
        • social systems in which as many valued positions exist as there are persons
        • where everyone has equal status, within the distinctions always made based on age and sex
          • hunters and gatherers
          • low level horticulturalists (some), mixed subsistence
      • Ranked Societies
      • Social systems in which there are status differences, but these do not allow differential access to the accumulation of wealth, just prestige.
      • Lineal kin-based systems where lineages perform different functions
      • horticultural (plant focused)
      • Stratified Societies
        • societies in which two or more groups of people are ranked on a hierarchy (high and low status) relative to one another
        • they do not share equally in the basic resources that support life
        • They have greater access to power and prestige
        • Advanced horticultural societies, Agricultural societies, Industrial agriculture
        • two types
          • CLASS
            • hierarchically arranged strata
            • born into a class, but mobility between strata possible although it may be difficult to achieve (up or down)
              • factors: birth, education, wealth, occupation, education, etc.
            • status is "achieved" & mutable (changeable)
            • status and role influence each other
          • CASTE
            • hierarchically arranged strata
            • you are born into a caste and there is no mobility between strata
              • factors: birth
            •  status is "ascribed" & immutable
            • status DETERMINES role
              • diet
              • language
              • occupation
              • dress
              • marriage arrangements
              • religious observance
              • etc
      •  examples:
        • caste system of India (Hindu)
        • Apartheid South Africa (Black/white)  

      What's the caste system?



      The Indian caste system is a process of placing people in occupational groups. It has pervaded several aspects of Indian society for centuries. Rooted in religion and based on a division of labor, the caste system, among other things, dictates the type of occupations a person can pursue and the social interactions that she may have.
      • Castes are an aspect of Hindu religion. Other religions in India do not follow this system.
      • Castes are ranked in hierarchical order (originally, the system wasn't to have a hierarchy based on occupation or birth but purely on personality; this has been skewed somehow over time), which determines the behavior of one member of society over another. 
      • Even in a modern business setting, where caste isn't openly acknowledged, there may be subtle observances of village or family-style ranking. For instance, a young official may address a senior person, not necessarily his superior, as chachaji, a respectful term for a paternal uncle.

      How it's structured

      India's caste system has four main classes (also called varnas) based originally on personality, profession, and birth. In descending order, the classes are as follows:
      • Brahmana (now more commonly spelled Brahmin): Consist of those engaged in scriptural education and teaching, essential for the continuation of knowledge.
      • Kshatriya: Take on all forms of public service, including administration, maintenance of law and order, and defense.
      • Vaishya: Engage in commercial activity as businessmen.
      • Shudra: Work as semi-skilled and unskilled laborers.
      -------------------------------------------
      • Untouchables: exist outside the caste system (Taboo & polluting)
      In this rigid system, the lower castes were prevented from aspiring to climb higher, and, therefore, economic progress was restricted.

      • Mahatma Gandhi, the father of modern India, made the lower castes and untouchables a fifth, lowly class with the name Harijan, or "children of God." 
      • You see many references to SC and ST in India, in newspapers, government notifications, and so on. These initials refer to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes —scheduled is what Harijan is translated into today. 
      • The government is sensitive about reserving seats in colleges and job opportunities for them. But the government has legislation to make up for the past suppression and oppression of the lower castes.

      How it works

      • Castes still rarely intermarry and are definitely not changeable. 
      • In urban India, though, people of all castes meet socially or for business. 
      • Discriminating against anyone because of their caste for things like club memberships and so on is against the law.
      • Though caste and community are facts of Indian life, foreigners are not expected to behave differently toward any caste.

      Tuesday, November 3, 2020

      Kinship Charts

       








      Kinship and Marriage

       




      Marriage: a transaction  resulting in a contract between two or more parties in which two or more individuals are recognized as having (1) a continuing claim to the rights of sexual access, (2) legitimization of children (3) kin relations are established, and (4) there is a clear statement of the proper roles and responsibilities of each party. 

      • Marriages are backed by social, economic and legal forces within a culture
        • EXAMPLES:
      • Ghost Marriage among the Nuer
      • Woman/Woman marriage among the Southern Bantu
      • Tali Tying among the Nayar (pre-menstruation)
      • Berdache' among the Navaho
      Marriage Rules: (will speak about special marriage rules later)
      • Exogamous Rules / (Exogamy): states the groups you must marry "out" of
        •  "Incest Taboo" : prohibits sexual relations between "blood relatives" (This is always a required rule)
          • Genetic explanation-deleterious genes & mutation?
          • Human nature explanation?
          • Familiarity breeds contempt explanation (Israeli Kibbutzim studies)?
          • Social Network explanation? (alliance building)
          • Familial Roles Confusion explanation?
      • Endogamous Rules / (Endogamy): States the groups you must marry within
        • race
        • class
        • education
        • religion
          • these are all PREFERENTIAL RULES in American culture rather than REQUIRED RULES
      *Sex is often allowed outside of marriage. In such cases it is less regulated than in the structure of  a marriage contract.

      Types of Kin: 
      • Affinal Kin (related through the contract of marriage)
      • Consanguineal kin (blood relatives-related by "blood")
        • the definitions of these vary from culture to culture, and are based in the kind of KINSHIP SYSTEM which is found in each culture.
      Forms of Marriage:
      • Monogamy: Where only one marriage contract is possible for any individual
        • Industrial Agricultural cultures
        • Hunting & Gathering cultures
        • somewhat common
      • Polygamy: Where multiple marriage contracts are possible for an individual
        • Polygyny: Marriage of one man to more than one woman
          • involves multiple contracts-strict rules for "equality" between contracts
          • common marriage system
          • not accessible to all men in any culture since marriage are "expensive" for kin groups
          • polygyny therefore becomes a marker of status
          • polygyny is found in cultures where gaining status is desirable. (ranked, stratified societies)
            • Pastoral societies
            • Patrilineal horticultural societies
            • Agricultural societies
        • Polyandry : Marriage of one woman to more than one man. 
          • involves multiple contracts
          • rare in terms of marriage systems
          • all "husband" are considered fathers to the children produced
          • fraternal polyandry (Yak Herders of Tibet)-example
      •  Serial Monogamy: When one marriage contract can be engaged in at a time
        • found where there is an option for ending contracts (divorce)
        • Industrial agriculture and Hunting and gathering
      • Group Marriage: Where a marriage contract may include more than two individuals
        • Eskimo & Inuit 
      Marriage Exchanges: Marriages are all transactions, and as such involve important exchanges between kin groups.
      • Bridewealth: exchange of wealth from kin group of the groom to the kin group of the bride on the occasion of finalizing a marriage contract. 
        • These can be substantial expenditures which may take years and even generations to fulfill.
        • impediment against men acquiring wives, and in such systems, men marry later in life and some never marry, especially where polygyny is practiced.
        • can create a "shortage of women"- tension among men
        • can be viewed as "demeaning" to women or a measure of their immense value for the production of children and economic contributions within the houselhold and subsistence.
        • Horticultural societies
        • Creates strong bonds between women and their brothers since sisters marriages bring wealth into their kin groups to enable their brothers to marry
          • Brideprice: exchange of goods
          • Brideservice: exchange of services
      • Dowry: Often understood as an "early" inheritance by women in a kin group.Dowry is the wealth a bride brings with her into a marriage contract
        • Agricultural societies
        • dowry often becomes the "property" of the husband's kin group although it is not technically meant to be this
        • signals woman's exit from their natal kin group.
        • Does not foster continued ties between women and their brothers or family, since women remove wealth from the family on the occasion of their marriage. Daughters are expensive. They can be seen as a burden.
        • signals low status for women, way to attract husbands
          • Sutti (bride-burning) India- can be seen as a function of dowry & recent dowry inflation
        Family: A residential kin group composed of a woman, her dependent children, and at least one male joined through marriage (affinal) or blood (consanguineal) relationship. 
        • in opposition to the Household which can be familial or nonfamilial
        • Functions:
          • legitimize and nurture children
          • control of sexual relations
          • economic cooperation

        Forms of Family: 
        • Nuclear: composed of a husband, wife, and their dependent children
          • industrial agricultural and hunting and gathering
          • gain MOBILITY
          • independent from larger kin group
          • lose security
        • Extended: composed of a nuclear family and relations both generational (grandparents & grandchildren) and within a single generation (brothers and sisters and their spouses)
          • horticultural and agrarian agricultural
          • gain SECURITY
          • dependent on larger kin group
          • lose mobility
        • Polygamous: Found in polygamous systems where patrilineal polygamy is practiced
          • Each wife has their own household within a polygamous compound
          • wives ranked by seniority
          • work together to accomplish tasks of the family as a whole
          • maintain concern for the benefit of their (wives) biological children which are distinguished
          • Co-wives cooperate and are often great friends and support systems for one another since women in these systems leave their birth families to reside with their husbands families.
        • Consanguine : Related women and their brothers and the women's offspring.
          • no coresidence between husband and wife
          • spend time in natal households with men "commuting" for sex and the production of offspring
          • "Uterine families" of rural taiwan
          • can exist in conjunction with other family systems and serve a special function within culture and society
        Kinship systems are important to study and understand because they lie at the base of social organization in every culture. In many cultures, kinship is the ONLY organizing principle in that society.

        Kinship systems determine who your relatives are
        • affinal
        • consanguineal
        and how the following will be regulated in a culture:
        • marriage
        • familial roles
        • residence rules
        • descent
        • succession
        • inheritance

        TYPES OF KINSHIP SYSTEMS:
        • UNILINEAL
          • Patrilineal- trace descent through men. From father to children
          • Matrilineal-trace descent through women from mother through children
          • Bilineal-trace descent through both women and men, but differently. Women pass down some things and men pass down others
        • BILATERAL
          • descent passed down through both men and women equally to their children
        UNILINEAL SYSTEMS:
        • LINEAGE-basic unit
          • related lineages are organized into clans and two related clans make up a phratry
          • lineages are CORPORATE, phratrys and clans are not
          • made up of only consanguineal kin
          • trace relationships to a known common ancestor (patriarch or matriarch)
          • a member of only one lineage.
          • immutable, non-negtiable membership. You are born into a lineage and remain in it even after death as an ancestor
          • Consistent with extended and polygamous family structure
          • TYPES:
            • PATRILINEAL DESCENT
              • men pass down descent and inheritance goes through men to their offspring
              • found in horticultural (larger and pastoral) and nonindustrial agricultural societies
              • women do most of the agricultural labor in plant based horticulture and men do most of the labor in agricultural and pastoral societies
              • marriages are strong and divorce is difficult to attain. 
              • relationships between siblings (brothers and sisters are weakened)
              • women and their sexuality and sexual behavior are controlled
            • MATRILINEAL DESCENT
              • women pass down descent and inheritance goes through men to their offspring
              • found in horticultural (smaller plant based) societies
              • men do most of the agricultural labor in plant based horticulture 
              • marriages are weak and divorce is easy to attain. 
              • relationships between siblings (brothers and sisters) are strong and remain so throughout their lives
              • brothers are responsible for the care and socialization of their sister's children
              • women and their sexuality and sexual behavior are not controlled
        BILATERAL SYSTEMS:
        • KINDRED is the basic unit
          • non-corporate
          • mutable and ever changing
          • you are a member of a number of overlapping kindreds at the same time
          • made up of affinal, consanguineal and fictive kin
          • drawn and maintained through the perspective of "EGO"
          • consistent with NUCLEAR FAMILY STRUCTURE
        • Descent and inheritance passed from father and mother equally to their children
        FICTIVE KIN: Those considered kin and treated like kin that are not related either by marriage contract or by decent. 

        RESIDENCE PATTERNS
        • patrilocal- reside with groom's family
        • matrilocal - reside with bride's family
        • avunculocal- reside with groom's mothers brother
        • ambilocal- reside in more than one location (move between them)
        • neolocal- reside in a separate residence
         Kinship Terminology (6 major patterns):
        indicate the relationships between people in the designation of kin terms.

        MARRIAGE STRATEGIES & KIN GROUPINGS
        • Alliance Intensifying
        • Alliance Diversifying
        Special Marriage Forms:
        • Cross Cousin Marriage (preferred marriage form)-alliance intensifying
        • Parallel Cousin Marriage (preferred marriage form)-alliance intensifying
        • Leverite (required practice)-maintains contract
        • Sororate (required practice)-maintains contract