This document provides an overview of a lecture on kinship and families from an anthropology course. It discusses key concepts like what kinship is, how it is organized in societies, and examples of kinship structures from the Ju/'hoansi people. It also covers changing patterns of modern kinship with technological innovations and the implications of new reproductive technologies on concepts of kinship and family.

1. SC2218: Anthropology and the Human Condition Lecture 5: Families and Kinship Eric C. Thompson Semester 1, 2010/2011

6. Complexity of Kinship* among Dobe Ju/’hoansi (From Lee, The Dobe Ju/’hoansi) *Many thanks to Dr. Stephanie Rupp for creation and use of the slides to follow.

7. !kun!a !kun!a tun tun !kuma !kuma tuma tuma !ko !kwi tsin tsin !hai =hai ba tai Basic Kin Relations – Dobe Ju/’hoansi ego 1 2 3 4 5 tsiu

8. !kun!a !kun!a tun tun !kuma !kuma tuma tuma !ko !kwi tsin tsin !hai =hai ba tai Reciprocal Relations – Dobe Ju/’hoansi “ old name” grandfather “ small name” grandson ego grandmother granddaughter

9. !kun!a !kun!a tun tun tsin !kuma !kuma tuma tuma !ko !kwi tsin !hai =hai ba tai tsu tsu //ga //ga !kun!a !kun!a tun tun !kun!a !kun!a tun tun ego Joking Avoidance Joking Avoidance Joking Reciprocal Relations between Alternate Generations

10. Man’s perspective Woman’s perspective Affinal* Relations **************************************************************************************************** Joking Kin Joking Affines Avoidance Kin Avoidance Affines =tum =tum /otsu /otsu /otsu /otsu *Related by Marriage

11. Another Layer of Complexity: Name Relationships Common Pattern - Naming Children after Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

12. When a Man Is Named after His Father’s Brother … 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Joking Joking Avoidance Joking Avoidance Avoidance

13. Complicated Intersections of Kinship: Can =Toma and Chu/o Marry? (They must have a ‘joking’ relationship) =Toma Chu/o Joking Joking Chu/o =Toma Avoidance Avoidance

17. Concept of Wi – Relative Age Lee to !Xam: “When two people are working out what kin term to employ, how do they decide whose choice is to prevail? !Xam to Lee: “… it is always the older person who wi s the younger person. Since I am older than you, I decide what we should call each other.” (Lee 2003: 72)

18. Marriage – New Horizons of Kinship Based on Name Relationships All women named N=isa could call him “ husband” All husbands of women named N=isa could call him “ brother” or “co-husband”. All fathers of women named N=isa could call him “son-in-law”. All siblings of women named N=isa could call him “brother-in-law”. ego N=isa

19. Dobe Camp Composition: Social Organization and Rights to Waterholes Based on Kinship core siblings spouses of core siblings siblings of spouses of core siblings spouses of siblings of spouses of core siblings

23. 1980 2000 2020 China’s kinship structure – “One Child Policy” “ Uncle” “ Aunt” “ Cousin” Will All Structurally Cease to Exist (At least in theory)