New Directions in Anthropological Kinship - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0742501086 ISBN 13: 9780742501089

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000

Synopsis

Following periods of intense debate and eventual demise, kinship studies is now seeing a revival in anthropology. New Directions in Anthropological Kinship captures these recent trends and explores new avenues of inquiry in this re-emerging subfield. The book comprises contributions from primatology, evolutionary anthropology, archaeology, and cultural anthropology. The authors review the history of kinship in anthropology and its theory, and recent research in relation to new directions of anthropological study. Moving beyond the contentious debates of the past, the book covers feminist anthropology on kinship, the expansion of kinship into the areas of new reproductive technologies, recent kinship constructions in EuroAmerican societies, and the role of kinship in state politics.

About this title

About the Author:

Linda Stone is professor of anthropology at Washington State University.

Review:

New Directions in Anthropological Kinship is an important, expansive, and provocative collection of essays that simultaneously demonstrates both the vitality and promise of the reconstituted field of kinship studies as well as the intellectual value of a broadly defined anthropology. The contributors present a good deal of original research in highly accessible prose, and analyze topics ranging from the history of kinship studies, primate kinship, and problems with mothers-in-law, to discourses of genetic counseling, post-divorce parenting, open adoption, and the gender(ed) and class politics of kinship in nation-states. This fine book will be of interest to seasoned anthropologists and to students at all levels. (Michael G. Peletz, Colgate University)

Bravo for this treasure trove of a collection, in which kinship is not only alive and well but teeming with new possibilities. From Mayan glyphs in early Mexico to genetic counseling sessions in contemporary Sweden, from activist women's associations in Mali to part-time parenting families in Massachusetts, the anthropological investigation of the shape, origins and meanings of kinship has never been more vigorous. (Alma Gottlieb, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)

Linda Stone, in New Directions in Anthropological Kinship, has extended contemporary kinship-based debates by demonstrating the importance and timeliness of kinship studies. New Directions is an important addition to the literature for anyone interested in following the inherently interesting trajectory of the recently resuscitated kinship studies. (Heléna Ragoné, author ofSurrogate Motherhood: Conception in the Heart and Reproducing Reproduction: Kinship, Power, and Technological Innovatio)

The essays collected in this volume offer rich testimony to the several and diverse directions kinship studies have taken in anthropology, especially under the influence of feminist thought. One of its special features is its coverage of anthropology quite generally. Its publication will surely stimulate more lively discussion of a wide range of issues. (Harold W. Scheffler, Yale University)

A good introduction to the current status of kinship studies. (American Anthropologist)

This is a valuable volume for the range of perspectives and subject-matter on offer with respect to a subject, kinship, that has once again become a core topic in anthropology. Not only fellow professionals, but also the more advanced students will benefit from it. (Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute)

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0742501086
• ISBN 13: 9780742501089
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368
• Editor: Stone Linda