Theoretical Problems in the Concept of Kindred

Abstract

ONE of the most important of the current problems in the study of kinship phenomena is the description and analysis of kinship in societies without unilineal descent groups. Pending a more detailed understanding of their structural and functional variations, these kinship systems provisionally have been termed or cognatic. They also have been recognized to exist on all levels of socio-economic complexity ranging from the hunting and gathering band to the industrialized state. The principle concept historically associated with the study of bilateral or cognatic kinship systems is the kindred (Djamour 1959:23; Dozier 1961:3; Geertz 1961:24-25; Goodenough 1955:71; Murdock 1949:60; Peranio 1961:99; Phillpotts 1913:2; Rivers 1924:16; Solien 1959: 578). It is sometimes referred to as the bilateral kindred (Bennett and Despres 1960:261; Goodenough 1955:71; Murdock 1949:60; Pehrson 1957:44; Redfield 1955:38; Solien 1959:582; Tambiah and Ryan 1957:293) or as the personal kindred (Conklin 1957:12; Davenport 1959:563; Dozier 1961:3; Geddes 1954:14; Goody 1961:3; Leach 1950:62; Murdock 1959:136; Peranio 1961: 101). The purpose of this paper is to explore the assumption that the kindred is an especially compatible structural feature of cognatic kinship systems. The initial part of the inquiry will focus on the work of Murdock since he is a major exponent of this position. Murdock (1949:57), after examining the kinship structure of 250 societies as recorded in the cross-cultural files of the Institute of Human Relations at Yale University and from his own extensive library research, concludes that: