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Marriage, Kinship and Family norms

Home/ Marriage, Kinship and Family Norms
Course Type Course Code No. Of Credits
Discipline Core SC04 4

Aim: The objective of this course is to introduce students to the concept/institution of Marriage, kinship and families and how they are inter-related and play an important role in shaping individuals’ identity in the society. Some key concepts, terminologies and ideologies that govern kinship and families will be looked at. The focus would on defining and understanding the concept of kinship; the cultural constructions of kinship; marriage patterns and exchange of different forms, among others. The roles assigned to different groups based on age and sex, production and reproduction in different societies and the differences and convergences in both patrilineal and matrilineal societies will be examined. This course will adopt a historical and theoretical perspective on the anthropological study of kinship, focusing also on various issues that directly relate to the state of marriage and family in different societies. The course would include study of changes in marriage and family forms and those in definitions of kinship owing to other important developments like coming in of new reproductive technologies, globalization etc.

Week 1& 2

  • Introduction;
  • Marriage, Kinship and Family
  • Concepts, Abbreviations and Symbols

Readings

  • Parkin, Robert. 1997. Kinship: An introduction to Basic Concept. Malden: Blackwell Publishers. Introduction: Pp. 1-13, Ch.5: Kinship (Relationship) Terminology. Pp.47-77. Ch.10: The Meaning of Kinship. Pp. 123-132.
  • Goode, William. J. 1987. The Family. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India, Private Limited. Ch. 1: The Theoretical Importance of the Family. Pp. 1-14.
  • Graburn, Nelson. 1971. Readings in Kinship and Social Structure. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers. XV. The Family and Marriage. Pp. 357-375.

Week 3 & 4

  • Ways to look at kinship (Various Perspectives: Structural Functionalsit, Marxist etc)

Readings:

  • Dube, Leela, 1974. Sociology of Kinship: An analytical survey of Literature. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. Pp.
  • Fox, Robin.1967. Kinship and Marriage; Anthropological Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. (Specific pages will be given in the class)
  • Parkin, Robert. 1997. Kinship: An introduction to Basic Concept. Malden: Blackwell Publishers. Part II: theories of Kinship. Pp. 135-161.
  • Uberoi. Patricia. 1993. Family, Marriage and Kinship in India. New Delhi: OUP. Introduction: (Specific pages will be given in the class).
  • Week 5
  • Understanding and analysing Descent: (Patrilineal Unilineal Descent, Matrilineal Cognatic Descent)

Readings

  • Dumont, L. 1961. Descent, Filiation and Affinity’ in Man 61, II, pp. 24-25.
  • Graburn, Nelson. 1971. Readings in Kinship and Social Structure. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers. XI. Alliance and Descent. Pp. 213-231.
  • Keesing, Roger M. 1976. Cultural Anthropology: A Contemporary Perspective. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Ch. 13. Kinship, Descent, and Social Structure. Pp. 229-272. (Selected Pages)
  • Parkin, Robert. 1997. Kinship: An introduction to Basic Concept. Malden: Blackwell Publishers. Chapter 2. Pp. 14-27.

Week 6

  • Marriage forms and changing pattenrs

Readings

  • Uberoi, Patricia. 1995. “When is a Marriage not a Marriage? Sex, Sacrament and Contract in Hindu Marriage” in Contributions to Indian Sociology, n.s. 29, 1&2: 319-45.
  • Uberoi, Patricia. 2009. Your Law and My Custom: Legislating the Family in India. New Delhi: Critical Quest. Pp. 1-24.

Week 7 & 8

  • Family as a basic social institution:(types, Cross-Cultural practices, adoption, fictive kinship, etc. family in post-modernist contexts)

Readings

  • Goode, William. J. 1987. The Family. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India, Private Limited. Ch.10: Understanding Family Change: Theory and Method. Pp. 168-178.

Week 9 & 10

  • New Reproductive Technologies and Kinship

Readings

  • Patel. Tulsi. 2005. Family in India; Structure and Practice. New Delhi: Sage

Week 11 & 12

  • Gender, alternative forms and contemporary practices and trends

Readings

  • Brah, Avtar. 1978. South Asian teenagers in Southall: Their perceptions of Marriage, Family and Ethnic Identity. In Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Volume 6, Issue 3, 1978
  • Kath Weston, 1991, Families We Choose: Lesbians, Gays, Kinship, New York: Columbia

Assessment Details with weights:

  • Take home assessment 30% (end August)
  • Mid Sem assessment 30% (end September)
  • End semester 40% (as per AUD academic calendar)
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