Anthropology; Chapter 17, 18, 19, 20 21

political organization:

"The network of social relationships which provides for the maintenance of social order" - Structure - Mechanisms of Social Control - Informal of reciprocity - Teasing, gossiping, shunning, expulsion from group, praising, rewarding, Formal / "law informormal"

Corporate Nature of Unilinear Descent Groups

* Members see themselves as members of the group rather than individuals. * Large numbers of family must approve marriages. * Property is regulated by the group, rather than by the individual. * If a member of one group assaults a member of another, both the perpetrator and the group are held accountable. * The kinship group provides security and protection for individual members.

Define Kinship

- A way to determine relatedness among people. - How it's established varies cross-cultrurally. - Based on: Descent; marriage; residence - and these three systems also vary cross-culturally

Kinship Classification

- All cultures consider some relatives more important than others. - Reduce number of relatives to maintain relationships with in two ways: 1. every culture forgets or ignores more distant relatives. 2. most cultures emphasize some kin and de-emphasize other kin. Most common way to do it is through the sex of the linking relative.

Group Marriage

- All participants have rights to each other's sexual rights - EX. Oneida commune, NY 1848. Utopian living, 300 people where everyone had sexual rights to everyone. Pairing was looked down upon.

Hawaiian:

- Ambilineal. - Turns extended family into the nuclear family. All mother and aunts are called Mother. All Fathers and uncles are called Father. All cousin are brother and sister. - Least descriptive - Uses a single term for all relatives of the same sex and generation - A person's father, father's brother, and mother's brother are all referred to as father - cousins are all classified as brothers and sisters

Animism:

- Belief in nature spirits (seen in foraging societies), that everything in nature is equal

Eskimo:

- Bilateral. (use in the US) no distinction between matrilineal snd matrilineal - Strong emphasis on nuclear family - Mother, father, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, cousin, etc. - Parallel cousin children of MZ & FB. Two cross cousins are the children of opposites sex siblings i.e. FZ &MB

Cross-cousin:

- Children of your father's sister or your mother's brother (children of opposite sex siblings) - The kin on either side who are neither patrilineal or matrilineal, they are cross sex linked to ego.

Marriage as "universal"

- Contracts rights of sexual access - Have a financial responsibility to your spouse

Neolocal Residence Patterns

- Establishes a new household after marriage - Only this one produces nuclear families, the rest listed below create extended families - Nuclear family households live in their own without extended families

Monogamy

- Exclusive relationship/marriage with another individual. - Industrialized and foraging societies

Nuer

- For homicide/blood feuds: there is mediation done by a leopard-skin (worn as cape) priest (aka shaman). The person who committed murder moves in with the shaman (shaman's family moves out). Victim's family is therefore not able to harm the accused. Shaman goes back and forth between the accused and the victim and finds compensation for the victimized family. Payment is cattle (bloodwealth). Once paid → no more revenge -decentralized tribal-pastoral- patrilineal lineages - When you marry you receive the last name of your husband, but if there are no female children the family name can no longer be passed on, this is why the Sudan women become the pater, to fulfill the family name

Principle of Kinship Classification

- GENERATION - GENDER - LINEALITY VS. COLLATERALITY - CONSANGUINEAL VS. AFFINAL KIN -RELATIVE AGE - SEX OF THE CONNECTING RELATIVE - SOCIAL CONDITION - SIDE OF THE FAMILY

Animatism:

- Idea that not necessarily everything in nature is inhabited by a spirit, only certain things have power

Bilateral

- Individuals equally emphasize their mother's kin and their father's kin. incorporates relatives by marriage and by blood from ego's mothers and fathers side - Most common in the United States - Bilateral Kinship Calculations Kin Ties calculated equally through men and women

Civil Law

- Intents not to punish an individual but seeks compensation - Sanctions are applied/enforced by an individual or group with the socially accepted right to do so - With criminal law you need an established government

Myth

- Is always trying to teach something/a lesson - Always has an underlying meaning - "A set of rituals, rationalized by myth, which mobilize supernatural powers for the purpose of achieving or preventing transformations of state in man and nature"- Anthony Wallace

Mana

- Is the name of the force. You can recognize someone with mana because they have a special skill of color about them

Bilateral (non-unilineal):

- It is a system of family lineage in which the relatives on the mother's side and father's side are equally important for emotional ties or for transfer of property or wealth. It is a family arrangement where descent and inheritance are passed equally through both parents. - No clear rules of inheritance, no socially established rules - Eskimo kinship - When both the mother and father's side are as equally important in ties to )emotions and transfers of wealth. This is the most common kinship system in a non-unilineal kinship system (34%)

Descriptive

- Kinship roles are diversified (unique role for everyone) - More accurately reflects biology - Each role has own term and importance - Mother's brother, father's sister, etc. - Reflects underlying genealogy

Patrilineal (Unilineal Descent)

- MOST COMMON KIND OF DESCENT GROUP - A man, his children, his brother's children, and his son's children are all members of the same descent group. - females must marry outside their patrilineages. - A woman's children belong to husband's children rather than her own. * A person is connected to relatives of sexes

Crow

- Matrilineal - You don't call them your cousin you call them uncle/aunt depending on their gender - Cross cousins on F side → father/ aunt (raises generation) If female, refer to cross cousin on M side niece/nephew. If male refer to cross cousin on M side as son/daughter. - It is a way that ego recognizes the father's lineage as to being in a different group than ego's.

Functions of Descent Groups

- Mechanism for inheriting property and political office. - Control behavior. - Regulate marriages. - Structure political units.

Shamans

- Mediates between ordinary people and supernatural beings and forces, general term encompassing "curers" (witch doctors, mediums, spiritualists, astrologers, palm readers). In foraging societies, shamans are usually part time, they also hunt and gather Don't operate in large institutions Work on behalf of the believers to manipulate the supernatural (in a good way)

Non-Unilineal

- Non-corporate - Overlapping membership - Ego-oriented = only put who is related to you on your family tree, is unique to you, is from your own perspective - Emphasis on generation: 1st cousin is my generation, 2nd cousin is my parents generation

Polygyny

- One husband with 1+ wife - More common - Allows for horticultural and pastoral societies because they have more labor and can produce more. - Horticultural and pastoral societies

Polyandry

- One wife with 1+ husbands - Less common - Harsh climates (Tibet) Women have a "spare" husband incase something happens to the others.

Omaha

- Patrilineal - Ego uses the same terms for his mother's brother's son as he does for his mother's brother (F) and the same term for mother's brother's daughter as for his mother (B). - Strong patrilineal emphasis in their social organization. - Parallel cousins are merged with siblings, however cross-cousin terms are quite peculiar and cut across generational divisions. Ego uses the same terms for his mother's brother's son as he does for his mother's brother (F) and the same term for mother's brother's daughter as for his mother (B). - Cross cousins on M side → uncle/ mother (raises generation) - If male, refer to cross cousin on F side niece/nephew. If female, refer to cross cousin on F side as son/daughter. - Does the same thing that Crow does but on the mother side.

Religion as a mechanism of social control

- Reward system for proper behavior (fellowship of the religious community) - Punishments for improper behavior (threat of being cast out or excommunicated) - Formal, organized religions often have a code of ethics and morality that dictate & guide behavior. These codes are constantly reinforced in sermons & become internalized psychologically - These codes produce guilt, shame, regret, need for forgiveness, and absolution when not followed

Rites of Passage

- Rites of people transforming themselves in some way. Ex: wedding (go in single, come out married), graduation, funerals

Rites of Intensification

- Rites that focus on a specific group - Re-energize the community - Emphasize different aspects of what it means to live in that society (attitude/mood during christmas vs. Halloween) - Can also be rituals done during times of social crisis ex: natural disaster

Criminal Law

- Seeking punishment for their actions - States get money - Industrialized / agricultural societies

Avuncular -

- Sisters brother acts as a father, stern and disciplined while your father, you have a relaxed relationship (as if your father were a uncle) - Islanders

Law (is a formal mechanism of social control)

- Stipulates what the rule is - Stipulates what will happen if you violate - Who enforces it

Unilineal

- Systems that emphasize either the mother's or the father's line, but not both - Can trace descent back to one common ancestor, can recite back 9-12 generations - Corporate groups: as a group they own land, or rights to land - Discrete membership: only member of one kinship - Ancestor oriented - Asked to do a lot - Emphasis on gender of connecting relative (whether a relative is related to you through your mother's side or father's side

mechanisms of social control: - Internalized - Externalized

- Teasing, gossiping, shunning, expulsion from group, praising/ rewarding - Conscience, morality, fear of sanctions

Iroquois:

- Unilinear - Matrilineal and patrilineal - FB=F, MZ=M: but FZ=aunt, and MB=uncle, FZ children= C, FB children=B&Z, MB children=C, MZ children= B&Z. (Cross cousins → cousins/ parallel cousins → siblings) - The people who you call father, mother, brother, and sister are a part of your lineage.

Kindred

- What your family tree is called (everyone related to you by blood, marriage, adoption, etc) - Kin ties are not asked to do a lot

Ambilineal (aka non-unilineal):

- When ego is older, they get to decide whose lineage to be a part of. This is common in islanders. This is mainly used for economic growth and opportunities. - is a system containing both unilineal descent groups - i.e. both patrilineal and matrilineal groups - in which one belongs to one's father's and/or mother's descent group (lineage). In traditional ambilineal cultures such as those listed below, the individual has the option of choosing their own lineage. Hawaiian

Patrilineal (Unilineal):

- When your lineage aligns with your father's side of the family. Mostly found in pastoral societies. Some in horticulture. 50% of all societies - Omaha kinship - Greek - Chinese

Matrilineal (Unilineal)

- When your lineage aligns with your mother's side of the family. This is mostly come in horticulture societies. 14% of all societies - Crow kinship

Lineage Exogamy

- You have to marry someone from a different lineage than your own (because it is incest to marry within your own lineage) - This arrangement emphasizes the fact that cross-cousins do not belong to the lineage with ego, ego's siblings, and ego's parallel cousins, thus designating marriage between cross-cousins as exogamous.

How is kinship culturally constructed?

- not innate/biological; you learn it - constructed from a set of categories, groups, relationships, and behaviors based on culturally determined beliefs and values concerning human biology and reproduction

Kinship in Non-Industrial Societies

-Organize who does what work and with whom. - Establish land rights and ownership. - Shape who engages in rituals with one another. - Determines who fights with whom

What do these symbols mean on a kinship chart? 1. circle 2. triangle 3. = 4. vertical line 5. horizontal line 6. slash through 7. wavy line, double wavy line, straight line 8. ---- (dotted line)

1. female 2. male 3. marriage 4. descent, parentage 5. sibling bond 6. dead, divorced 7. relationship 8. fictive kin

Non-Unilineal Descent Group

A form of descent through both females and males. Approximately 40% of world's societies. Includes cognatic (ambilineal) and bilateral descent.

Matrilineal (Unilineal Descent)

A woman, her siblings, her children, her sisters' children, and her daughter's children. - 15 % of these groups in modern societies include: *Native Americans (Navajo, Cherokee, and Iroquois) * Truk and Trobrianders of the Pacific. * Bemba, Ashanti, and Yao of Africa.

Types of political organizations/ subsistence patterns

Bands: foraging Tribes: pastoral & small horticultural Chiefdoms: large horticultural States: agricultural/ industrialized

Religion

Belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers and forces

Descent Groups

CHARACTERISTICS: - Have a strong sense of identity . - Often share communally shared property. - Provide economic assistance to one another. - Engage in mutual civic and religious ceremonies.

Parallel cousin:

Children of your father's brother or your mother's sister (children of same sex siblings)

Ambilocal:

Choose whether to live with brides/grooms family

Gender Stratification -

Cuts across all aspects of social life, cuts across all social classes, and refers to men and women's unequal access to power, prestige, and property on the basis of their sex.

Politcal Organizations

Decentralized (structure) → Bands (foragers) → Tribes (Pastoral) & small hort societies → Chiefdoms (large hort societies) → States "government" (agricultural societies, including industrialized societies → Centralized (structured)

Subsistence Unilineal Kinship

Divided into Matrilineal (through the mother) Patrilineal (through the father)

Rituals Seasonal

Easter, Christmas, Groundhog day

Ambilineal

Flexible descent rule, neither patrilineal or matrilineal

Broad:

Foragers: allocate resources→ division of labor, organize for defense, administration, care of elders, religious rituals

Physiology - Phenotype

Genitalia, reproductive organs, secondary characteristics - phenotype

Priests/priestesses

Influences believers on behalf of the supernatural Operate in large institutions

Non-Unlineal Descent

It includes double descent, ambilineal descent, and bilineal descent (40% combined)

Oestrus Cycle

It is the reproductive cycle found in most female mammals whereby there are recurring periods when the female is fertile and sexually receptive (oestrus - mating season - spring) interrupted by periods in which the female is not fertile and sexually receptive (anoestrus - winter).

Matrilocal:

Live with bride's family

Patrilocal:

Live with groom's family

Avunculocal:

Live with groom's mother's brother (uncle), associated with matrilineal kinship

Dower

Marriage exchange involving giving cash or goods by the brides family to the grooms family

Bride wealth

Marriage exchange involving giving cash or goods by the grooms family to the brides family

Subsistence Bilineal Kinship

Most common in chiefdoms/bands Because whoever is most closely related to the top has more access to their resources

Narrow:

Most industrialized societies, "social identity" - to some it may mean nothing but to others they are very important correlate kinship systems with subsistence patterns

Gender identity -

Refers to a person's internal sense of being male, female, or other.

Incest Taboo

Refers to sexual contact with a relative, but cultures define their kin, and thus incest, differently. In other words, incest, like kinship, is socially constructed. All societies have this (usually members of nuclear families)

Double descent (non-unilineal):

Refers to societies in which both the patrilineal and matrilineal descent group are recognized. In these societies an individual affiliates for some purposes with a group of patrilineal kinsmen and for other purposes with a group of matrilineal kinsmen. Strict rules of inheritance Hawaiian When one property passes down from mother's side, and another property passes down from your father's side (rare)

kinship terminology systems:

Refers to the vocab that relatives use to identify other members of the family. There are not very many different kinship systems and terms, but there are variation. Reflect social roles not biology.

Unilineal Descent

THey trace their ancestry through mother's line or father's line, but not both (60%)

Exogamy

The custom and practice of seeking a mate outside one's own group, has adaptive value, because it links people into a wider social network that nurtures, helps, and protects them in times of need.

Endogamy

The practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such a basis as being unsuitable for marriage or for other close personal relationships.

Subsistence

The way societies get food and water H/G, P, H, A

Kinship Systems

They encompass all of the blood and marriage relationships that : -Distinguish among different categories of kin. - create rights and obligations among kin. - serve as basis for the formation of certain types of kin groups.

Deities/Ancestral Spirits:

W Pacific Manus Islands (horticultural, patrilineal): "Sir Ghost:" is a protective and punishing spirit if you violate a norm/taboo

Kinship in Post-Inudstrial Societies

We organize ourselves through different groups: - ECONOMIC - EDUCATIONAL - NETWORKS - ALL VOLUNTARY WITH OVERLAPPING MEMBERSHIP

Genotype

XX/XY

Lineage

You are born into a lineage, your placement is established at birth you keep it for life

Who are patrilineal kin?

all family members related through ego's father

Who are matrilateral kin?

all family members related through ego's mother

Cross relatives example

ego's mothers brother's kids = cross ego's fathe's sister's kids = cross

Parallel relatives example

ego's mothers sister's kids = parallel ego's fathers brother's kids = parallel

How is lineage traced in unilineal systems?

through parents and ancestors of only one sex, unilineal descent means your descent is determined by one line only and you are born into it