Kinship as Basis for Social Action

Just a quick post as I'm prepping for class this morning. In thinking about the group project on social media, one of the primary functions of social media (besides selling you things) is the establishment of social links between individuals.  These links can create either networks or groups.  Networks are defined by links between individuals and form a diffuse web of interaction emanating out from countless "centers." Groups, on the other hand, are more bounded social units that often have more of a collective or common purpose.

The formation of networks and groups is also one of the primary functions of human kinship.  It gives form and shape to human sociality. It provides avenues for the dissemination, negotiation and modification of symbols.

Of course, kinship is still important to us, but so are other forms of social interaction.  So, despite the fact that some of the societies often used as case studies in anthropological examinations of kinship seem very different than our own, there's a basic similarity between what they're doing and what you do.

I also just came across what seems to be a massive website, Kinship Studies, dedicated to assembling resources for the anthropological study of kinship.

Anthropology and Kinship

As discussed briefly today, anthropology has long focused on kinship as it's been a central organizing principle for most societies.  Even our own, with its many, overlapping institutions and identities, kinship ties remain some of the strongest, most meaningful and longest lasting (I still talk to my parents, but most friends from high school I now only interact with through Facebook).

On Friday, we'll continue with the description of diagramming relationships, particularly with what criteria we use to organize and classify kin. Then, with a broad brush, we'll look at the kinds of social groups and networks that conceptions of kinship create.  Kinship has been and remains one of the most important ways that humans activate and actualize social cooperation.

For all of you kinship nerds out there (and I know there were some), I just stumbled across this site, which seems to provide a freeware program to depict and model kinship groups.