Anthropology Essay: Kinship, Politics, Family, and Cultural Impact

This anthropology essay delves into the multifaceted concept of kinship, examining its significance in shaping societies and family structures. The essay explores the perspectives of scholars like Schneider, Sahlins, and McKinnon, contrasting biological and social definitions of kinship. It analyzes the influence of cultural factors such as religion, language, and economics on kinship bonds, and how politics impacts family dynamics, referencing TallBear's insights on settler families. The essay further discusses kinship theories, including their role in understanding family ties and societal bonds, and critiques the gender biases present in conventional kinship ideologies, highlighting the discrimination faced by women in various societies. The essay provides a comprehensive overview of kinship's role in anthropology and its implications for understanding human societies.

Running head: ANTHROPOLOGY: KINSHIP 1
Anthropology: Kinship
Name
Institution

ANTHROPOLOGY: KINSHIP 2
Anthropology: Kinship
Prompt 1
In contemporary anthropological works, the concept of kinship has caused great
interest among anthropologists. Scholars acknowledge that kinship has existed for a long time
and it is the central and fundamental cornerstone in the formation of a society or a
community. In essence, every society is formed from the foundations of a family. The
functions of kinship include determining who gets to marry who and determines instances
where a marital status that is a taboo in the society. Besides, it is responsible for determining
the members’ rights and obligations in every sacrament and religious activity. The strength of
the community’s bonds depends on the strengths that are exhibited by the individual kinship
bonds within families in the family. By definition, kinship can be regarded as the bond that
ties each member of a family to the other. Individual members of a family are referred to as
units. According to Schneider (1980), kinship is the "blood relationship, the fact of shared
biogenic substance". The scholar asserts that kinship is defined by the "mother-child" bond
which serves as the most fundamental bond in the family. In his book, the scholar also argues
that the blood relationship between family members is the strongest and cannot be lost,
regardless of the social as well as the legal measures in any community. The scholars tend to
suggest that considering that societal bonds are derived from kinship bonds, societal bonds
cannot outweigh kinship bonds. Members of a particular kinship may be ready to defy
societal rules, regardless of the implications.
Sahlins (2013) refutes the arguments of scholars that define kinship as a biological
phenomenon. McKinnon (2001), identifies kinship as a biological factor. The scholar defines
kinship as a “naturalized” biological concept. Franklin’s discussion of kinship as a biological
factor starts with her attempt to encompass biology as a cultural phenomenon. Franklin,

ANTHROPOLOGY: KINSHIP 3
therefore, is of the opinion that the issue of kinship must and should be considered a cultural
issue. According to Sahlins, however, kinship is purely a social affair. In his article, the
scholar asserts that kinship is defined from the social perspective. In this article, the scholar
conducts research on the concept of kinship among the various communities such as the Inuit,
the Korowai, Eskimos, along with other small tribes. The investigation by Salins proves that
kinship is defined by the social categories that define society. Cultural categories include
religion, language, politics, economy, and arts.
The categories of culture that comprise of religion, language, politics, economy, as
well as arts, are very instrumental in the strengthening of cultural bonds. In many instances,
kinship bonds are further strengthened by the bonds that exist between the categories of
culture. Religion, for instance, is viewed as a uniting factor for many families. As a result, it
is common for many kinship members to subscribe to the same religion. In a contemporary
context, individuals that deviate from the religion subscribed by other kinship members
usually weaken their bonds to their families. The economic conditions also serve as a very
important factor when analyzing and examining the strength of kinship bonds. Improvement
in economic conditions, in many cases, translates to stronger and more consistent kinship
bonds. However, in some family settings, the richer or wealthier the families get, the more
distant the family members become from their other family members. In such families, the
improvement of economic conditions has an inverse relationship with kinship bonds, in that it
ends up weakening the kinship bond. Nonetheless, language, as well as politics, play a major
role in the determination of the strength of kinship and societal bonds. Families and
communities function most effectively when the individual units of families and the societies
share common languages and political affiliations.

ANTHROPOLOGY: KINSHIP 4
Prompt 2
Tallbear (2018) delves into the idea of politics in the family by examining the ideas
and concepts held by the settlers' families. The scholar identifies the idea of the kinship that
was portrayed in settler families before and after colonial periods. Kinship and politics have
existed even before colonial periods among tribal societies globally. In families, the issue of
politics stands as one of the most fundamental aspects that define and determines the bonds
held by family members. In families, all members are expected to follow and support a
particular political ideology or party. Family ties, for instance, guide and determine the
strength and the intimacy of family individuals. Family members belonging to one political
affiliation are likely to have stronger bonds. On the other hand, family members that deviate
from the normative political affiliation are usually side-lined by the other family members. In
the contemporary world, many cases of betrayal, antagonism, and separation can be attributed
to differences in political ideologies. Politics, in some cases, threaten kinship bonds.
Differences in political affiliations and ideologies have been attributed to hatred and
antagonisms portrayed between family members. It is common to hear cases where brothers,
sisters, fathers, and sons go against each other in political battles. Politics have been known to
be a major reason behind family conflicts. Moreover, in families, the issue of politics
emerges during the process of choosing clan and family leaders. In large clans, members are
forced to take sides between the aspiring members. This may bring the concept of politics and
conflict between family members.
Kinship theory regards the formulation of hypothetical disciplines that regard the
concept of the family. Kinship entails social interactions as well as other forms of social
organization that is based on a culturally constructed social relations system that is expressed
linguistically by use of kin terms that make up a kinship terminology. The social relation’s

ANTHROPOLOGY: KINSHIP 5
structure and organization as depicted in kinship terminology are modeled formally as part of
an axiomatic theory, in which case, only a small number of kinship concepts are equated to
axioms in the case of a mathematical model. Kinship theories revolve around the
evolutionary, genetic and scientific concepts that guide and determine family ties. In kinship
theories, theorists and scholars argue and discuss the relationships and concepts behind
family and societal bonds. The primary function of kinship theories is to simplify complex
ideas behind the concept of family and society. In McKinnon (2005) text, the scholar
analyses the theories that revolve around relationships between kinship and marriage, and
kinship and evolutionary and psychology. These concepts and relationships are broken down
into comprehensible ideas that can be understood by anthropological proponents. In
McKinnon’s article, psychological concepts are majorly discussed and critiqued. In
conventional kinship ideologies, the female gender is primarily criticized.
Considering that humans exist in biased societies, the female gender is greatly
discriminated against. In families, women are expected to act submissively and follow the
concepts of patriarchal societies. Citizens in countries that were previously colonized by
European empires are likely to follow the ideals set by their earlier masters. Colonialists
empires normally prejudiced the female gender. In ancient and contemporary societies,
females are highly discriminated against. Female discrimination starts from the basic unit of
the family where the woman is expected to comply with submissive ideals. In many families
and kinship relationships, the male gender is highly preferred as compared to the female
gender. Many African and Asian communities, for instance, families preferred having sons to
having daughters. The value of having a male individual within the kinship seemed to
outweigh that of having a female within the kinship cycle.

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References
McKinnon, S. (2001). The economies in kinship and the paternity of culture: origin stories in
kinship theory. Relative values: Reconfiguring kinship studies, 277-301.
McKinnon, S. (2005). On kinship and marriage: a critique of the genetic and gender calculus
of evolutionary psychology. Complexities: Beyond nature and nurture, 106-131.
Sahlins, M. (2013). What kinship is-and is not. University of Chicago Press.
Schneider, D. M. (2014). American kinship: A cultural account. University of Chicago Press.
TallBear, K. (2018). Making love and relations beyond settler sex and family. Clarke, Adele
andHaraway, Donna, 145-164.