ANTH312-12S1 (C) Semester One 2012
Kinship and Family in Comparative Perspective

Description

Family and kinship provide important ways for people to be related to each other in all societies throughout the world. An understanding of any human society is impossible without some understanding of kinship and family in that society. For this reason, topics of kinship and family have long attracted scholarly attention from various disciplines of social sciences, in particular anthropology and sociology. In this course, we will discuss classic and contemporary case studies of kinship and family in cultures and societies around the world, including African tribal societies, pre and post communist China, Medieval Europe, the United States and New Zealand, to list just a few. We will cover the topics of biology and culture, personhood and subjectivity, gender, and global capitalism.

Learning Outcomes

Through exploring these case studies and topics, students are expected to understand:

a) the ways in which anthropologists have understood kinship and family historically, and how these understandings have shifted in line with wider theoretical changes in the discipline.
b) the cross-cultural variation in how kinship and the family are conceptualized and practiced, and the role of these conceptualizations and practices in the structuring and conduct of social relations.
c) how the conceptions and practice of family and kinship are shaped by the broader socio-cultural, economic and political contexts.

Pre-requisites

Restrictions

Equivalent Courses

For further information see School of Social and Political Sciences.