The metamorphoses of kinship
By: Maurice Godelier ; translated by Nora Scott
Contributors: Scott, Nora
Publisher: Verso Books; Verso
Published: 2011
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 638
ISBN-13: 9781844677467
Subjects: Parenthood; Families; Social structure
Work titles: Métamorphoses de la parenté
Description: "With marriage in decline, divorce on the rise, the demise of the nuclear family, and the increase in marriages and adoptions among same-sex partners, it is clear that the structures of kinship in the modern West are in a state of flux. In the Metamorphoses of Kinship, the world-renowned anthropologist Maurice Godelier contextualizes these developments, surveying the accumulated experience of humanity with regard to such phenomena as the organization of lines of descent, sexuality and sexual prohibitions. In parallel, Godelier studies the evolution of Western conjugal and familial traditions from their roots in the nineteenth century to the present. The conclusion he draws is that it is never the case that a man and a woman are sufficient on their own to raise a child, and nowhere are relations of kinship or the family the keystone of society. Godelier argues that the changes of the last thirty years do not herald the disappearance or death agony of kinship, but rather its remarkable metamorphosis--one that, ironically, is bringing us closer to the 'traditional' societies studied by ethnologists."--Jacket.
Notes: Translation of: Métamorphoses de la parenté.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [573]-605) and indexes.

Translation of: Métamorphoses de la parenté.
Table of contents: title: Kinship in the field: the Baruya of New Guinea; title: The components of kinship; title: Filiation and descent (first component); title: Alliance and residence (second and third components); title: Kinship terminologies (fourth component); title: The functions and field of parenthood; title: Begetting ordinary humans (fifth component 1); title: Begetting extraordinary humans (fifth component 2); title: The sexed body: a ventriloquist's dummy that gives voice to the order or the disorder of society and the cosmos; title: Incest (sixth component): and a few other misuses of sex; title: Concerning the origins and the basis of the incest taboo: Freud and Lévi-Strauss; title: Proposals for a different scenario; title: Of the past, we cannot make a clean state: assessing the theories; title: Conclusion: what future for what kin ties?