KINSHIP ORGANIZATIONS

Kinship Organizations

Kinship Organizations

Kinship Systems

All humans are classified, at birth, within a system of kin relations. This system of relations organizes a society in a systematic way, such that it provides for the continuity of those relationships, and for the continuation of the society, through time. Ideally, the kinship system is perpetual and classifies all children at birth and maintains those classifications even after death; people continue to be sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers, and so on. The depth of the genealogical memory of groups varies tremendously, however (Oboler, 1980).

Kinship systems are structured by a variety of marriage practices but can ...