Kinship

In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies. It studies how humans connect through relationships like mating, gestation, parenthood, and siblingship. Humans are unique because they can organize and understand these connections in ways that help build families, communities, and even societies.

Kinship looks at both the actual relationships people have and how different cultures understand and organize these ties. It includes ideas like descent, marriage, and groups based on family links. Some cultures even see kinship extending to gods or animals as ancestors. These bonds often bring strong responsibilities and care between related people, more so than between strangers.

In a broader sense, kinship can also mean a feeling of connection between things based on shared features or history. For example, we might say two languages have a kind of kinship if they share roots. In biology, kinship refers to how closely related individuals are through genetics.

Basic concepts

Family types

Main article: Family

A family is a group of people connected by birth, marriage, or living together. In most places, families are important for raising children. Anthropologists usually describe families in a few ways: a mother and her children; a husband, wife, and their children (called a nuclear family); a brother, his sister, and her children; or a larger group that includes parents, children, and other relatives.

Families do more than raise children. In many societies, marriage creates a group that works together and shares resources.

Terminology

Different cultures have different ways of naming family members. Some languages have separate words for a father’s brother and a mother’s brother, while others use one word for both.

Kinship terms can be simple or more complex. A simple term refers to one specific relationship, like the word “brother” which means a son of the same parent. In other languages, one word might refer to several types of relatives, such as both a brother and a cousin.

Anthropologists have identified several common kinship systems, including Iroquois, Crow, Omaha, Inuit, Hawaiian, Sudanese, and Dravidian. These systems show how different cultures group and name family relationships.

Tri-relational kin-terms

Some languages have special words that describe relationships between three people. For example, in some Australian languages, a word might describe someone who is both your uncle and your grandchild at the same time.

Kin-based group terms and pronouns

In some languages, there are special ways to talk about groups of relatives. For example, in some Australian languages, there are different words for a grandfather and his sister, or for a father and his sister. Some languages even have pronouns that change based on how the people in a group are related.

Descent

Descent rules

In many societies, there are rules about how family lines are traced. These rules can be:

• Bilateral: tracing family through both parents.
• Unilineal: tracing family through only one parent, either the father (patrilineal) or the mother (matrilineal).
• Ambilineal: choosing to trace family through either the father’s or mother’s line.
• Double descent: tracing family through both the father’s and mother’s lines for different purposes.

Descent groups

A descent group is a group of people who believe they share a common ancestor. In unilineal societies, people belong to either their father’s or mother’s family line. In bilateral societies, people recognize family ties from both sides. Some societies use both patrilineal and matrilineal descent for different purposes.

Lineages, clans, phratries, moieties, and matrimonial sides

A lineage is a family line that can trace its ancestors to a known person. A clan is a larger group that claims common ancestry, sometimes from a legendary or animal ancestor. A phratry is made up of several clans sharing a more distant ancestor.

Some societies are divided into two groups that must marry each other, called moieties. Other societies have groups called matrimonial sides that interact in similar ways.

House societies

Main article: House society

In some societies, family and leadership are organized around homes or houses rather than family lines. These groups come together for special events and share responsibilities. This idea was first described by anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss.

Marriage (affinity)

Main article: Marriage

Marriage is a recognized union between partners that creates rights and responsibilities. It is common in most cultures, though the rules about who can marry vary widely. Some cultures allow only marriage within certain groups, while others require marriage outside one’s group. Marriages between close relatives, like parents and children, are usually forbidden, but marriages between more distant cousins have been common throughout history.

Alliance (marital exchange systems)

Main article: Alliance theory

In some societies, marriage rules create lasting connections between family groups. These connections can influence politics and economics. Anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss studied how marriage rules shape relationships between groups and help prevent marriages between close relatives.

History

One of the important early works in studying kinship was by Morgan in his book Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family from 1871. Back then, people were just starting to learn about how different species fit into the world, and society was seen as something only humans had. Because of this, early thinkers tried to explain both how and why humans live in groups. They often thought that living in groups was because of human ideas and values.

Morgan thought that humans naturally value family ties and want to build groups around them. He noticed that sometimes people who aren’t closely related still use family words to describe each other. This showed that kinship isn’t just about blood ties but also about how people think and talk about relationships.

Later, other researchers looked at kinship in different ways. Some saw it as connections between individuals, while others focused on how groups stay stable over time. Recently, there’s been more focus on how people actively create and maintain kinship through actions and relationships, especially in changing situations like moving to new places or in different kinds of families.

Anthropologists have debated whether kinship is based on family ties, shared living, or other actions. Some argue that kinship is about how people care for and support each other, not just who they are born to. This idea has helped us understand kinship in many different cultures better.

Biology, psychology and kinship

See also: Human inclusive fitness and Attachment theory

Anthropologists studying family ties have debated how biology affects human relationships. Some scientists believe that genetic links explain why people care for family members, while others argue that shared experiences and care are just as important, if not more so.

Research in biology and psychology explores how animals, including humans, form social groups. Some scientists think that genetic ties are the main reason for these bonds. However, many experts argue that close relationships often grow from living together, sharing experiences, and caring for one another, not just from being related by blood. Both views continue to be discussed among scientists and researchers.

Extensions of the kinship metaphor

Main articles: Fictive kinship, Nurture kinship, and Milk kinship

Sometimes, people talk about family in ways that are not just about blood or legal ties. For example, in some cultures, a woman who lives with a man after her husband passes away might have children with him. Even though he is not the legal father, he is still seen as the father in a social sense. This shows how family ties can be both social and biological.

Anthropologists use special terms to describe these different kinds of family ties. They might talk about the "pater," who is the person recognized as the father, and the "genitor," who is believed to be the biological father. These terms help explain how families work in different cultures and situations, like when parents divorce and remarry.

The study of kinship can also use math to describe family connections. For example, if person x is the parent of person y, this can be written as xPy. If z is also a child of x, then y and z are siblings. These math-like symbols help us understand how family relationships fit together in many different ways.

Main article: Composition of relations