lecture week 6 prof. dwight read anthropology 131
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Lecture Week 6
Prof. Dwight Read
Anthropology 131
In Group , Out GroupFor their to be an in-group, there must be an out-group,That is, a conceptual structure of opposition.
persons
Group Other
Phenomenological
Property A Not Property A
Ideational
persons
Group
Property A
Opposition
• Can express opposition with “not”: X has property A, Y does not have property A
• Some semantically labeled oppositions arise from the nature of things: day/night, man/woman (not day = night, not man = woman)
• Some oppositions are constructed when “not A” is diffuse and not specific: good/evil (many ways to be “not good”), boss/worker
Constructed Opposition
Concept: “Us”
Property A
Property B
Concept “Other” Property not A
Property not B
Concept “Not Us”(diffuse)
Us Them
Property AProperty B
Property not AProperty not B
Link Oppositions by Analogy
B/~BA/~A
B
~B
::A
~A
A
~A
B
~B
Example
man/woman nature/culture
or
woman : man :: nature : culture
man : woman :: nature : culture
man woman
nature culture
Waorani (Ecuador)
Waorani“the people”
Cowodeoutsiderscannibals
kill on sight
Binary opposition
Waranirelation not known
Guirinanirelation known
sharegeneralized reciprocity
quimarriageablecross cousins
“consanguines”not marriageableparallel cousins
arrange marriages
Egalitarian (no political positions)
• Situational leadership (no recognized leadership position)
• Individual responsibility
• Individual autonomy (including children) -- individual can’t be forced to do what he or she does not want to do
Male/Female Opposition
Waorani“the people”
MaleHunt
Fell treesClear garden plots“revenge” killing
Yaede waepo‘pregnant father’
Taboos:Cannot touch poison
Keep ‘pregnant-causing’ penis and urine out of fishing streams
FemaleGather
Carry waterGardenweeding
Food preparation
Pregnancy taboos:Cannot make poisons for fishing
Patrilineal Descent Group
Reference male
Patrilineal Descent Group: All persons who can trace back to reference male through father links
Matrilineal Descent Group
Reference female
Matrilineal Descent Group: All persons who can trace back to reference female through mother links
Descent Groups
• Social unit composed of several families
• Corporate Group -- own resources in common
• Corporate authority is vested in males
• Care and upbringing of children assigned to women
• Usually exogamous marriage
Family Formation (Patrilineal Groups)
Patrilineal Descent Groups
authority
Family Formation (Matrilineal Groups)
Matrilineal Descent Groups
authority
Patrilineal Lineages
• Residence: Typically, patrilineal lineages are patrilocal
• Inheritance: Sons inherit from fathers (daughters do not inherit)
• Consistent system in terms of lineage structure and authority (within generation), residence (spatial location) and inheritance (across generation)
• Husband + wife is the smallest reproductive unit and the smallest possible lineage unit; it is easy to form new lineages
Patrilineal Lineages (cont’d)
• In-marrying wife is “alienated” from her natal group; she may not have any close relatives in her new group
• She is initially in a subordinate position, but gains authority through her sons and their in marrying wives (she has authority over her daughter-in-laws)
• In terms of gender sexual identity, a woman tends to be seen as providing the “fertile ground” on which the male seed may grow
Matrilineal Lineages
• Residence: No typical pattern• Inheritance: Sons inherit from mother’s brother
(daughters do not inherit)• Not a consistent system in terms of lineage structure
and authority (within generation), residence (spatial location) and inheritance (across generation)
• Husband + wife + wife’s brother is the smallest possible lineage unit; it is more difficult to form new lineages
Matrilineal Lineages (cont’d)
• Female --> wife: she is not “alienated” from her natal group;
• Husband is in subordinate position, in terms of family structure and lineage authority
• In terms of gender sexual identity, a woman tends to be seen as the source of fertility and of life, male role is downplayed
Matrilineal Lineages: Issue of Authority
=
Wife’s lineage
Husband’s lineage
Reference ancestress
=
Authority
?
Male Authority
• Male has authority over children by virtue of being the father (genitor)
• Male has authority over children by virtue of lineage membership (lineage based authority)
• Patrilineages: a singe male may exercise both kinds of authority
• Matrilineage: authority is potentially split between two males: genitor and mother’s brother
Conflict Resolution and Feuds
• Resolve conflict through close kinship relations (ostracization)
• Factions (distant kin) can lead to feuds• Feud are with the qui group (potential affines)• Feud began around 1900, continued until
1958 (41% of deaths due to feud killings)• Feud involves four hostile groups
Beginning of Hierarchy: 1958 - 1978
waorani
missionaries
Dove (female)
Gatekeepers
Kin ties
marriage
Resources: western goods, markets, jobs, medicine
Quichua
Alternative cultureSocial institutions
Religious ideology
cowode