Solving the Problem of
Cooperation
Marriage and Family
Marriage and Family
Marriage
“…a
relationship
between
one orofmore
“The
notion
of marriage
as a sacrament
…one
variable
in the
formation
In a 2005 book, Marriage, a History: From
men
(male
or
female)
and
one
or
more
andObedience
notgroups
just
a
contract
can
be
traced
kinship
(affinal
relatives).
TheSt.
to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered
women
(male
or(consanguineal
female)
byofthe
Paul
who
compared
relationship
a
Marriage,
Coontz
writes:the recognized
other
is
descent
relatives).
society
as every
having
a continuing
claimand
to
husband
and marital
wife
to
Christ
“Almost
andthat
sexualofarrangement
we the
right
ofseen
sexual
access
one another”
in recent
years, to
however
startling it
hishave
church.”
may appear,
has been tried somewhere before.”
(http://marriage.about.com/cs/generalhistory/a/marriagehistory.htm
)
(Haviland
2003:514).
(p. 2)
Marriage and Family
Affines - relatives by marriage
Consanguineal kin - relatives by birth
Conjugal bond – bond between married individuals
Incest taboo - very strong prohibition against
mating within particular group.
Rules of Marriage
Monogamy One spouse
Endogamy
Marry inside group
Polygamy Multiple spouses
Marry outside group
Exogamy
Among the Buddhist people of the mountainous Ladakh
Multiple
District
of Jammu and
Kashmir,wives
who have cultural ties
Polygyny
prohibition
to Tibet, fraternal polyandry isStrong
practiced,
and a
Incestmaytaboo
household
include a set ofagainst
brothersmarriage
with their inside
Multiple
husbands
group
common
wife or wives.
This Children
family
type,are
in which
Polyandry
offspring
brothers
alsomarriage
share land, is almost certainly linked to the
Group
of the group
extreme scarcity of cultivableMultiple
land in the
Himalayan
spouses,
one at
Serial
marriage
region,
because
it discourages
fragmentation of holdings.
a time
Marriage and Family
Levirate - “brother marriage”
Sororate - “sister marriage”
…Either of the above may be “anticipatory”
Fictive marriage
Marriage and Family
Parallel-cousin (= Cousin) Marriage
ego's father's brother's children or mother's sister's
children.
Cross-cousin (X-Cousin) Marriage
ego's father's sister's children or mother's brother's
children.
Marriage and Family
Cross-cousin (X Cousin) Marriage
ego's father's sister's children or mother's brother's children.
Marriage and Family
X Cousin Marriage in Matrilineal Societies
Sometimes prescriptive (should)
Sometimes proscriptive (must)
adoption
fictive
Marriage and Family
Stephanie Coontz, author of The Way We Really Are: Coming to
Terms with America's Changing Families and The Way We
Kathleen
Gough specialized
in cross
cultural studies
of the
Never
Were: American
Families and
the Nostalgia
Trap, wrote:
Family
“…in
anthropological
terms, itofisfamily
a
family
and
attempted
this universal definition
(a
Note
So
far……
on
co-operation:
group
composed
woman,
herAmerican
dependent
definition
that
applies
to
societies):
“Many
people
holdof
anaall
image
of how
families
Human
beings,
indeed
all
social
animals,
“family”
continues
toinbe
theand
most
“A
married
couple
or
other
group
of adult
kinsfolk
who
children,
and
least
one
adult
man
joined
‘used
toThe
be’
atat
some
particular
point
time,
they
areofinnately
co-operative.
cooperate
economically
and
in
upbringing
children,
universal
form
human
social
organization.
propose
that
we
return
to
that
ideal.
In
fact, of
however,
through marriage or bloodthe
relationship”
andthere
all orhave
mostbeen
of whom
a common
dwelling.”
a 537).
wideshare
variety
of family
forms and
(Haviland
2003:
values in American history, and there is no period in
which some ideal family predominated.”
The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap (1992)
Marriage and Family
Families are composed of people
related to one another by
consanguinity and descent.
Nuclear families
Extended families
Characterized by independence training
…kids are taught to take care of themselves
Characterized by dependence training…
kids are taught to depend on other
family members
Marriage and Family
Traditional functions of families
Emotional nurturance
Women in Civilian Labor Force:
Sex
control of total …43.5% single women
In 1900…20.6%
Economic Co-operation
and 5.6% of married women.
Physical nurturance
In 2002…69.6% of total…67.4% single women
Enculturation
and 61.0% of married
women.
U.S. Census Bureau - Marital Status of Women in the Civilian Labor Force: 1900-2002.
Trends in Marriage and Family
• Related to technology
…i.e. modern genetics
“Brave New World” of ‘Designer Children’
Genetic implications:
Choosing or avoiding physical ability or
disability
Choosing or avoiding behavioral ability or
disability
Ravitsky, Ethics and Education: The Ethics of Shaping Human Identity
http://www.mssm.edu/msjournal/69/v69_5_page312_316.pdf