Kinship, Ecology and History

The analysis of kinship plays a major role in social anthropology. However, the intellectual triumph of structuralism has transformed this analysis into an ivory tower and the methodological hegemony of functionalism inhibits any historical authority. Kinship, Ecology and History informs the reader of these old, yet long-lasting issues. By presenting new, original perspectives, this book reinvents the manner in which we can study kinship. It also examines ecology and history as a conjectural reflection, which make up the foundations on which human kinship can be reflected upon. Whether human kinship is understood in the form of systematics models or as articulated practices, it has to be conceived as a strategic means for modes of action and of transformation of life in society. The three case studies presented in this book give body to new issues. They deconstruct the existing models in order to re-establish kinship as a condition and consequence of social evolution.

The analysis of kinship plays a major role in social anthropology. However, the intellectual triumph of structuralism has transformed this analysis into an ivory tower and the methodological hegemony of functionalism inhibits any historical authority.Kinship, Ecology and History informs the reader of these old, yet long-lasting issues. By presenting new, original perspectives, this book reinvents the manner in which we can study kinship. It also examines ecology and history as a conjectural reflection, which make up the foundations on which human kinship can be reflected upon. Whether human kinship is understood in the form of systematics models or as articulated practices, it has to be conceived as a strategic means for modes of action and of transformation of life in society.The three case studies presented in this book give body to new issues. They deconstruct the existing models in order to re-establish kinship as a condition and consequence of social evolution.

Introduction ixGeorges GUILLE-ESCURETChapter 1. Conditional Conjecture: the Relationship Between Ecology, Evolution and History 1Georges GUILLE-ESCURET1.1. Do the sources contaminate history? 11.1.1. Consequences and extensions of a deadlock 21.1.2. The return of evolutionism: another disposal of ecology and history 41.2. The recurrent pitfalls of conjecture in the face of kinship 61.2.1. The misleading security of the base 71.2.2. Causes, emergences and functions 131.2.3. Statistics and anomalies 171.3. Controllable conjectures: perceiving kinship as conditional 211.3.1. Aram Yengoyan's edifying investigation into Australia 221.3.2. An ecology of kinship from its initial reports 261.3.3. Prescription and prohibition: "to marry the closest"? 341.3.4. Contraventions, restrictions and extensions: adaptable kinship? 401.4. The relationship between filiation and alliance reconsidered as a variable 491.5. The challenge: correlating and speculating without conclusion 54Chapter 2. Mode of Reproduction and Prohibition of Incest 57Sejin PARK2.1. Mode of reproduction in world III: the case of nomadic hunter-gatherers 592.1.1. Universal kinship 592.1.2. Couple formation as condition for reproduction 622.1.3. Ways to obtain the category of "marriageable kin" 642.2. Mode of reproduction in world I 672.2.1. Two invariants and an alternative in community formation 672.2.2. Promiscuity regime 702.2.3. Transition from the undivided community to the community divided into consanguineous groups 712.3. Mode of reproduction in world II 742.3.1. The meaning of We 752.3.2. From immediate to delayed sexuality 772.3.3. Mode of reproduction and delayed sexuality 782.4. On the evolutionary pertinence of the prohibition of incest 832.4.1. Sexual avoidance and exogamy 832.4.2. Prohibiting more to specify more 87Chapter 3. Open and Closed Systems: Rebuilding the Social Organization of Prehistoric Societies 93Laurent DOUSSET3.1. Introduction 933.2. Theoretical proposals 993.3. Kinship and the problem of symmetry 1013.3.1. What is a "kinship system"? 1013.3.2. Recalling the basic principles of terminology representation 1033.3.3. The system called "Eskimo" or cognatic 1093.3.4. The so-called "Dravidian" system and its variants 1113.3.5. The problem of symmetry 1173.3.6. Lévi-Strauss and the origins of kinship 1193.3.7. Nick Allen's "tetradic" theory 1273.3.8. Why are section systems not strictly speaking kinship? 1343.3.9. Practice and rule 1413.3.10. The basics necessary for the discussion of open and closed systems 1463.4. Kinship and ecology: hunter-gatherers and Sahul 1483.4.1. To be or not to be a hunter-gatherer 1483.4.2. Closed systems: the "classic" Australian model 1533.4.3. Open systems: ethnography of the Western Desert 1583.4.4. The first occupants of Sahul 1733.5. Is a "sociobiology" of exchange realistic? 1783.6. For a new typology 188Conclusion 193Laurent DOUSSETReferences 203Index 225