Synopses & Reviews
Does kinship still matter in todays globalized, increasingly mobile world? Do family structures continue to influence the varied roles that men and women play in different cultures? Answering with a resounding yes!”, Linda Stone offers a lively introduction to and working knowledge of kinship. She firmly links these concepts to cross-cultural gender studies, illuminating the malleable nature of gender roles around the world and over time.
Written to engage students, each chapter provides key terms and useful generalizations gleaned through cross-cultural research on the interplay of kinship and gender in both traditional societies and contemporary communities. Detailed case studies help students understand how such generalizations are experienced in real life.” Stone also considers the ramifications of current social problems and recent developments in reproductive technology as she demonstrates the relevance of kinship and gender to students lives.
The fully-revised fifth edition features discussion of cross-cultural examples complimented by expanded coverage of kinship and gender dynamics within the United States. Stone considers current evolutionary research on kinship and gender, and offers new case studies addressing international adoptions and polygynous marriage. An entirely new chapter explores the globalization of kinship in the 21st century. The result is a broad and captivating exploration of anthropological approaches to family and gender.
Review
"Stone's innovative approach to a difficult subject makes it abundantly clear that kinship is not passe. She weaves current cross-cultural stories and illustrations throughout the text to show how kinship values ground an individual in society.
Lina Fruzzetti, Brown University
Praise for Previous Editions:
"Stones excellent text offers a broad introduction to key concepts in an anthropological understanding of the family."
William Donner, Kutztown University
"A wonderfully nuanced introduction to the relationships between kinship, gender roles, and reproductive life in a cross-cultural perspective. In addition to exploring the diversity of gendered relationships, Stone provides mechanisms that allow students to understand why particular gender roles develop in particular societies."
Shane Macfarlan, Oregon State University
"This is an excellent text for teaching, with compelling case studies and an engaging, accessible style. In offering an argument for the combining of kinship and gender into one domain of inquiry, it represents an invitation to students and scholars alike to revitalize kinship studies by drawing on gender scholarship. Now with additional material on contemporary social problems, this book is more user-friendly than ever."
Diane E. King, University of Kentucky
"Now in its fourth edition, Kinship and Gender provides an expansive, sophisticated, yet thoroughly accessible introduction to the reconstituted field of kinship studies. Stone adeptly combines an encyclopedic treatment of classic themes with incisive analyses of the shifting contours of a field that has much to contribute to the increasingly high-stakes political debates concerning kinship, marriage, and reproduction in the new millennium. The end result is a text that will be of great value in the classroom and far beyond."
Michael G. Peletz, Emory University
"The study of kinship within anthropology has been re-energized by its association with gender, by its exploration of the impact of new reproductive technologies, and by new ethnographic research on household and family forms in Euro-American contexts to complement the long tradition of studying kinship in other parts of the globe. Stones book integrates these new problems and approaches into a comprehensive volume replete with interesting case studies that is accessible to undergraduate students. Finally, there is an excellent text to assign."
Caroline Brettell, Southern Methodist University
Synopsis
This 5th Edition of a core anthropology text provides an introduction to the study of kinship and family as a means to understanding cross-cultural gender variation.
Synopsis
This book explores gender cross-culturally through the framework of kinship. It includes fifteen ethnographic case studies to give students a strong sense of the intricate interconnections between kinship and gender as a lived experience and among a variety of cultural groups.
About the Author
Linda Stone is professor emeritus of anthropology at Washington State University. She is the coauthor of Gender and Culture in America and Genes, Culture, and Human Evolution.
Table of Contents
IllustrationsPreface
1 Gender, Reproduction, and Kinship
Enacting and Embodying Gender
Gender and Reproduction
What Is Kinship?
The Kinship Code
Key Concepts
Kinship Theory
Kinship and Gender
Discussion Questions Suggested Further Reading
Suggested Classroom Media Websites
Notes References
2 The Evolution of Kinship and Gender
Kin Recognition
Case 1: Deaths in the Families of Chimps
Kin Selection
Primate Kinship
Reproduction, Aggression, and Dominance
The Human Transition
The Incest Taboo
Nature, Culture, and Human Kinship
Discussion Questions Suggested Further Reading
Suggested Classroom Media Websites
Notes References
3 The Power of Patrilines
Lineage and Clan
Patrilocality
Lineal Masculinity
Case 2: The Nuer
Case 3: Nepalese Brahmans
Patrilineal Contrasts
Discussion Questions Suggested Further Reading
Suggested Classroom Media Websites
Notes References
4 Through the Mother
The Matrilineal Puzzle
Case 4: The Navajo
Case 5: The Nayar and the Mosuo
The Matrifocal Family
Matrilineal Contrasts
Discussion Questions Suggested Further Reading
Suggested Classroom Media Websites
Notes References
5 Double, Bilateral, and Cognatic Descent
Double Descent
Case 6: The Beng
Bilateral Societies
Cognatic Descent
Case 7: The Kwaio
Case 8: The Huli
Descent, Residence, and Female Pollution
Double and Cognatic Concerns
Discussion Questions Suggested Further Reading
Suggested Classroom Media Websites
Notes References
6 Marriage
Monogamy, Polygyny, and Polyandry
Case 9: Nyinba Polyandry
Marriage and Alliance
Exogamy and Cross-Cousin Marriage
Exogamy and Exchange: Manipulating Women?
Endogamy
Marriage and Fertility
Discussion Questions Suggested Classroom Media
Websites Notes References
7 A History of Euro-American Kinship and Gender
Dowry and the Double Standard
From the Middle Ages to Modern Times
The Rise of the Christian Church
The North American Experience
Case 10: Breadwinning Women
Discussion Questions Suggested Further Reading
Suggested Classroom Media Website
Notes References
8 Kinship, Gender, and Contemporary Social Issues
Alternative Families, Alternative Sexualities
Case 11: New and Novel Families in the United States
Case 12: Polygyny in the United States
Violence Against Women
Case 13: Honor Killings
Discussion Questions Suggested Further Reading
Suggested Classroom Media Websites
References
9 Kinship, Gender, and the New Reproductive Technologies
The New Reproductive Technologies
Case 14: New Reproductive Technologies in Israel
Social, Legal, and Moral Implications
Kinship and Gender
Discussion Questions Suggested Further Reading
Suggested Classroom Media Websites
Notes References
10 The Globalization of Kinship
Kinship, Urbanization, and Transnational Migration
Kinship and Transnational Adoption
Case 15: Child Circulation in Peru
Continuities
Discussion Questions Suggested Further Reading
Suggested Classroom Media Websites
Notes References
Appendix: Kinship Terminology
Glossary
Index