Family Ties: The Anthropology of Kinship & Descent

Example of matrilineal descent pattern over five generations.

If someone were to ask you about your family what would you tell them?  Would you acknowledge both your mother’s and father’s side of the family (even if you did not know one or the other), or would you only discuss one?  This may seem like a strange question, but within the study of anthropology it is actually a typical and legitimate question.  The reason is that while families and kinship are culturally universal how one defines their family will vary by cultural group.  Today’s blog post will address patterns of descent that exist cross-culturally, specifically breaking down the different types of unilineal descent compared to bilateral descent.

 

First, it is important to understand what descent refers to within an anthropological context.  Descent refers to the permanent social group where members share a common ancestor.  This membership can be identified in a variety of ways, such as by family name or clan membership.  Ultimately, all members of the group, no matter how far removed from their immediate family, all fall within the same familial group at some level. 

 

This membership, however, may not be recognized by all individuals who are family by blood or marriage.  Descent can be further divided into two types: unilineal or bilateral descent.  Unilineal descent is when only one parent’s lineage is recognized.  If it is the father’s then it is called patrilineal descent, and if it is the mother’s then it is known as matrilineal descent.  In these cases the other parent’s family is not considered your kin/family.  Therefore, if you exist in a unilineal, specifically patrilineal, descent pattern only your father’s family would be considered family and only your mother would be considered family.  All of her relatives (e.g. your maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) would not be acknowledged as kin.  If, however, your family recognizes both parents’ family as kin then you and your family are practicing bilateral kinship.  This means that both paternal and maternal sides of the families are acknowledged and recognized as family members. 

 

For those who practice bilateral kinship patterns (commonly practiced among modern Westernized cultural groups) unilineal descent patterns may seem very strange.  These kinship patterns can exist to allow for cousin marriages/unions, typically as a form of maintaining family ties and keeping wealth in the family unit.  It could have also evolved out of a lack of marriage partners among non-blood kin, thereby creating a need to identify family from non-family members to avoid culturally defined incest infractions. 

 

Ultimately, kinship patterns exist as a means of creating and fostering social networks.  Those who are considered family are often treated differently from those who are not.  Through these interactions greater societal networks can be created, and they are maintained through a series of social norms and behaviors defined by the cultural group. 

References

Gezon, L., & Kottak, C. (2014).  Cultural Anthropology McGraw-Hill  

Welsch, R.L. & L.A. Vivanco.  (2015).  Cultural Anthropology: Asking Questions About Humanity.  Oxford University Press.