The Future of Anthropology and Kinship Study

Abstract (English)

It is a fact that there is no human group without kinship and that, outside of a few groups, the majority of the people in the world consider kinship to be central to their lives, livelihoods, and their sense of belonging. This panel will examine the sources of strength for the relations identified as kinship relations and whether there is agreement as to their shared properties. Clearly, kinship relations are not just any social relation. They adhere to certain criteria. Kinship research shows that these criteria include birth, marriage and other cultural manifestations. These criteria remain the same for social relations to be considered to be kinship relations. The presentations presented in this panel will identify these orientations, discuss the criteria proposed for social relations to be identified as kinship relations and will consider additional forms of relations that can be empirically demonstrated to qualify as kinship relations. It is central to the future of anthropological research to support the gradual building of theoretical orientations.