Short description:

This fully revised seventh edition of Kinship and Gender: An Introduction explores how family structures continue to influence the varied roles that men and women play in different cultures. It is essential reading for students taking their first steps into anthropology, gender studies, and sociology.

Long description:

This fully revised seventh edition of Kinship and Gender: An Introduction explores kinship in today?s globalized, increasingly mobile world, and how family structures continue to influence the varied roles that men and women play in different cultures.

Written to engage students, each chapter provides key terms and useful generalizations gleaned through research on the interplay of kinship and gender in both traditional societies and contemporary communities. Detailed case studies and cross-cultural examples help students understand how such generalizations are experienced in real life. The authors also consider the ramifications of current social problems and recent developments in reproductive technology as they demonstrate the relevance of kinship and gender to students? lives. The new edition contains a revised introduction highlighting the disaggregation of marriage and reproduction; new sections on third gender, nonbinary, and trans identities; new case studies on spiritual kinship; as well as explorations of genetic and ancestral kinship paradigms, new reproductive technologies, and a more robust global perspective throughout. Pedagogical features include bolded key terms throughout, updated suggestions for classroom media, an updated glossary, an updated appendix, and downloadable instructor resources & power point slides.

Kinship and Gender: An Introduction provides a broad, yet nuanced introduction to the field, and is essential reading for students taking their first steps into anthropology, gender studies, and sociology.

"This book offers an unrivaled survey and critical analysis of key literatures in the study of kinship and gender, beginning with the classics and extending to new, cutting-edge research in the field.  It also offers an argument for the continued relevance of kinship studies in Anthropology, demonstrating the power of culture and larger political and economic institutions in shaping our intimate, personal lives."
- Nancy Levine, Professor, Department of Anthropology, UCLA

Table of Contents:

1. Gender, Reproduction, and Kinship  2. Kinship, Gender, and Contemporary Social Issues  3. The Power of Patrilines  4. Through the Mother 5. Double, Bilateral, and Cognatic Descent  6. Marriage  7. A History of Euro-American Kinship and Gender  8. Kinship, Gender, and Assisted Reproductive Technologies  9. The Globalization of Kinship