Suchergebnisse

This book deals with polyandry as it is practiced among the Nyinba, a culturally Tibetan group resident in Northwestern Nepal. It uses ethnographic data to explore polyandry's cultural and social parameters. The author criticizes arguments that find a determinant materialist logic in polyandry and seek its causes in exogenous circumstances. (DÜI-Alb)

Abstract
This paper assesses enduring values and on-going changes in kin relationships among eastern Tibetan pastoralists. A key finding is the importance of sibling ties, an aspect of kinship life that was overshadowed by earlier historical and anthropological concerns with clans and tribes. The paper begins by reviewing accounts drawn from premodern times, the problematic terms in which these accounts were couched and some of the presuppositions guiding the authors. Next, it discusses government reforms implemented in pastoralist regions beginning in the 1950s and how these reforms have affected personal life and livelihoods. It then considers how long-standing expectations for kin concerning residence and inheritance have combined with new circumstances to create novel household forms and patterns of mutual aid. Brothers and sisters have facilitated adaptations to these new opportunities by providing chains of assistance across the rural–urban divide. Finally, the paper illustrates how focusing on kinship at a personal and practical level can contribute to our understanding of social change.

This review examines the implications of new kinship practices for anthropological theory, with a special focus on recent research in gay and lesbian kinship and assisted reproduction. The article begins with an account of the theoretical contexts in which kinship studies have been conducted and a brief survey of some of the older literature on alternative systems of marriage and family formation in preindustrial and modern societies. The emphasis then turns to current discussions of how gay men and lesbian women are creating meaningful networks of kin and families and the ways in which these practices both follow and challenge traditional expectations for family life. The final section surveys the ways in which the new reproductive technologies have been utilized in Euro-American societies and how cultural ideas and values concerning kin relationships have shaped the transfer of these technologies to and their utilization in other societies.

Fraternal polyandry among the Nyinba, an ethnic group of Tibetan cultural affiliation, is part of a unitary marital system. All men are regarded as husbands to their common wife and all expect to have children by her. Whereas the rights and duties associated with fatherhood may be characterized as joint in some contexts, they are clearly differentiated in others-as determined by the paternity of the children. The attribution of distinctive paternity is particularly crucial in that it establishes a child's place in society, his/her rights to property, and succession to office or ritual status.

This conclusion summarizes themes central to the papers collected in this volume-the definitional characteristics of polyandry, the relative status of women, as well as the political, economic and psychological concommitants of polyandrous systems of marriage- and attempts to account for biases which have hindered the study of these subjects in the past. As a first step in comparative analysis, a fourfold classification of types of polyandry, in addition to cicisbeism, is developed and examined in light of a larger contrast between Asian and African marital systems. Finally the paper discusses certain features common to polyandrous marriage worldwide.

The time has come for an updated study of polyandry, made possible by the availability of new data and a reawakened interest in the subject. This volume includes previously unpublished data on six polyandrous societies and several papers concerned with more broadly comparative issues and theoretical aims. The papers demonstrate that polyandry is not. a rare cultural oddity and, moreover, that it comprises marital systems which contrast greatly in terms of both cultural and structural features.