Short notes
Kinship
Kinship
Definition
Clan is the seat of political authority
Thinkers
- Kinship Studies in India – Irawati Karve
Consanguinity
Definition
Biological anthropology studies human evolution, heredity, variation and adaptation using scientific methods, while recognising the influence of culture on biology.
Example / case study
- Lactase persistence → long-term milk consumption in pastoral populations → selection for lactose tolerance.
- Thus, biological anthropology connects genetic evolution with culturally created dietary practices.
- 2. Archaeological Anthropology — Material Science + Human Meaning
- Helps estimate prevalence of inherited disorders.
Thinkers
- Claude Lévi-Strauss: Used genealogical/kinship data to develop Alliance Theory, focusing on marriage and exchange between lineages.
- India: S.C. Roy documented Oraon genealogies; Irawati Karve used genealogical mapping to study village kinship and exogamy in Maharashtra.
Affinity
Definition
A key feature distinguishing tribes from bands is the presence of pan-tribal sodality (associational organisation).
Thinkers
- Radcliffe-Brown (Structural Functionalism): Opposed Kroeber; Argued that terminology and behaviour are closely linked.
- Kinship Studies in India – Irawati Karve
- E.B. Tylor — culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom; unilinear evolution and survivals.
Principles And Types Of Descent
Definition
Principles and types of descent
Thinkers
- A.R. Radcliffe-Brown — structural-functionalism: institutions function like organs to maintain social structure.
- Study by Evans-Pritchard among Nuer (South Sudan)
Unilineal
Definition
Situating a person’s position in the kinship structure
Example / case study
- Descent may be traced from either parent
Thinkers
- A.R. Radcliffe-Brown — structural-functionalism: institutions function like organs to maintain social structure.
Double
Definition
Double descent (double unilineal descent) is a kinship system in which individuals inherit rights and group membership through two lines — typically both patrilineal and matrilineal — for different purposes such as land, ritual office or property.
Example / case study
- Khairlanji massacre (Maharashtra, 2006).
- Surinder Jodhka (Ad-Dharmis, Punjab) → As Dalits gained autonomy, they asserted control over women, started teasing and taunting women of U caste.
- Patriarchal Bargaining (Deniz Kandiyoti) → Upper caste women themselves internalize patriarchy, enforce norms for status.
- Dalit Women’s Double disadvantage(Leela Dube) Gail Omvedt by Gail Omvedt → suffer both caste and gender discrimination.(dalit + women).
Thinkers
- A.R. Radcliffe-Brown — analysed descent principles in African kinship systems.
- Fortes — lineage theory and unilineal descent groups.
Bilateral
Definition
Disseminated info (weather, govt schemes, health).
Example / case study
- Descent may be traced from either parent
- Choice may change from one generation to another
- Not culturally fixed; depends on circumstances
Ambilineal
Definition
Produces a unique set for each individual
Example / case study
- Descent may be traced from either parent
- Choice may change from one generation to another
- Not culturally fixed; depends on circumstances
Forms Of Descent Groups
Definition
III. Applications in Anthropological Studies
Thinkers
- A.R. Radcliffe-Brown — structural-functionalism: institutions function like organs to maintain social structure.
- Radcliffe-Brown: Used genealogies to reconstruct descent groups and social structure in Africa.
- Malinowski: Used them to understand kinship and land inheritance among the Trobriand Islanders.
- Claude Lévi-Strauss: Used genealogical/kinship data to develop Alliance Theory, focusing on marriage and exchange between lineages.
- India: S.C. Roy documented Oraon genealogies; Irawati Karve used genealogical mapping to study village kinship and exogamy in Maharashtra.
Lineage
Definition
Clan is the seat of political authority
Example / case study
- Leadership based on generosity, age, skills.
Clan
Definition
Conducted 18 months fieldwork among Konyak Nagas in Wanching village.
Phratry
Definition
A key feature distinguishing tribes from bands is the presence of pan-tribal sodality (associational organisation).
Thinkers
- Study by Evans-Pritchard among Nuer (South Sudan)
- Kinship Studies in India – Irawati Karve
- E.B. Tylor — culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom; unilinear evolution and survivals.
Moiety
Definition
A key feature distinguishing tribes from bands is the presence of pan-tribal sodality (associational organisation).
Thinkers
- Study by Evans-Pritchard among Nuer (South Sudan)
- Kinship Studies in India – Irawati Karve
- E.B. Tylor — culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom; unilinear evolution and survivals.
Kindred
Definition
Kindred refers to a unique type of kinship group that is defined from the perspective of a specific individual (referred to as Ego).
Example / case study
- Descent may be traced from either parent
- Choice may change from one generation to another
- Not culturally fixed; depends on circumstances
Kinship Terminology
Definition
Kinship terminology refers to the nomenclature and labels used to address or refer to kin in a society.
Example / case study
- Father & Father’s brother called by same term.
Thinkers
- • Evans-Pritchard – Nuer segmentary lineage: Meyer Fortes – Tallensi lineage structure.
- L. H. Morgan – Kinship Terminology: Emerged due to rise of private property.
Descriptive
Definition
She studied language, caste, and family to classify kinship patterns.
Example / case study
- Father & Father’s brother called by same term.
Thinkers
- • Lewis Henry Morgan – Kinship Classification
- • Interview – Margaret Mead (Samoa adolescence study): Genealogical method – W.H.R. Rivers (Toda tribe); Survey method – M.N. Srinivas (Rampura village study); Case study – Oscar Lewis (Culture of Poverty, Mexico).
- Bronislaw Malinowski — participant observation; culture exists to satisfy biological and psychological needs.
- Kinship Studies in India – Irawati Karve
Classificatory
Definition
Kinship terminology refers to the nomenclature and labels used to address or refer to kin in a society.
Example / case study
- Father & Father’s brother called by same term.
Thinkers
- • Lewis Henry Morgan – Kinship Classification
- • Interview – Margaret Mead (Samoa adolescence study): Genealogical method – W.H.R. Rivers (Toda tribe); Survey method – M.N. Srinivas (Rampura village study); Case study – Oscar Lewis (Culture of Poverty, Mexico).
- Bronislaw Malinowski — participant observation; culture exists to satisfy biological and psychological needs.
Descent
Definition
Raj Gonds – Haimendorf (Adilabad)
Thinkers
- A.R. Radcliffe-Brown — structural-functionalism: institutions function like organs to maintain social structure.
Filiation
Definition
A key feature distinguishing tribes from bands is the presence of pan-tribal sodality (associational organisation).
Thinkers
- A.R. Radcliffe-Brown — structural-functionalism: institutions function like organs to maintain social structure.
Complimentary Filiation
Definition
A key feature distinguishing tribes from bands is the presence of pan-tribal sodality (associational organisation).
Thinkers
- A.R. Radcliffe-Brown — structural-functionalism: institutions function like organs to maintain social structure.
- Kinship Studies in India – Irawati Karve
- E.B. Tylor — culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom; unilinear evolution and survivals.
Descent And Alliance
Definition
III. Applications in Anthropological Studies
Thinkers
- Radcliffe-Brown: Used genealogies to reconstruct descent groups and social structure in Africa.
- Malinowski: Used them to understand kinship and land inheritance among the Trobriand Islanders.
- Claude Lévi-Strauss: Used genealogical/kinship data to develop Alliance Theory, focusing on marriage and exchange between lineages.
- India: S.C. Roy documented Oraon genealogies; Irawati Karve used genealogical mapping to study village kinship and exogamy in Maharashtra.
- Challenge to Descent Primacy: While British anthropologists like Radcliffe-Brown emphasized descent groups (lineages/clans) as the primary basis of social structure, the Purum system proved that marriage alliances are equally fundamental.