<p> Kinship and Marriage Human organization * Societies are organized groups of people</p><p>* Societies center around patterned relationships or ties between people</p><p>* Culture centers on cognition, shared ideas, knowledge, etc. </p><p>Culture and society are tied closely together * People share culture * They are members of societal organizations * But their reasons for organizational practices are often supported by cultural beliefs and ideologies</p><p>Marvin Harris and Cultural Materialism as partial explanation for marriage differences * The lowest level he called the infrastructure – this includes a group’s subsistence strategy for making a living from its environment. (Foraging, horticulture, agriculture, industrialization, etc.) </p><p>* The middle level he called the social structure – this includes the ways societies organize themselves through kinship, gender roles, politics, systems of work and systems of collaboration or trade, etc.</p><p>* The top level he called the superstructure – this includes the ideational concerns of culture, its social values, religion, myth, art, norms etc. </p><p>* The superstructure developed out of the social structure which developed out of the infrastructure. </p><p>* When the infrastructure changes, the superstructure is usually the last to change in response to those changes. Kinship is a primary way that societies organize themselves * Kinship strategies (superstructure) are often closely related to subsistence strategies (infrastructure). * Strong patterns but not universal. </p><p>Some functions of kinship Vertical function * Provides social continuity by binding successive generations together</p><p>Horizontal function * Solidifies society through marriage by tying together different groups, creating alliances, and solidarity Types of descent * Foragers were/are often bilateral</p><p>* Horticulturalists were/are often matrilineal but many were/are patrilineal</p><p>* Pastoralists were/are primarily patrilineal</p><p>* Agriculturalists have tended to be patrilineal Residence after marriage * Patrilocal * Matrilocal * Neolocal</p><p>Awlad ‘Ali Bedouin Tribes Egypt, Libya and the Western Desert * Herded camels, sheep, and goats</p><p>* Strong governmental goal of assimilation</p><p>* Although they were forced to be more sedentary, they maintain strong Bedouin identity and consider themselves distinct from non-Bedouins Blood is the basis of Awlad ‘Ali identity</p><p>Key principals of social organization: * A tribal order based on the closeness of paternal relatives</p><p>Tied to a code of morality: * Honor * Modesty</p><p>* Nobility of origin (blood) * Honor * Sincerity * Generosity (especially honoring guests)</p><p>* Fearlessness and courage even though tribal warfare is gone * Values of the warrior</p><p>Those who cannot realize self mastery can achieve some respect and honor through the modesty code</p><p>Independence and self mastery are the way to honor. Why women cannot achieve this.</p><p>* Women have little control over sexuality and reproduction</p><p>* Men want to control them because of their value as reproducers</p><p>* So through sexuality and pregnancy, women lose control over their own bodies</p><p>* A woman’s children make her more dependent on her husband and increasingly under his control</p><p>* Her choice is to attain some measure of honor through modesty Blood relations are given priority * Even if a man very much loves his wife, it is shameful to value marital ties over blood ties</p><p>* He cannot let anyone know that he loves his wife</p><p>* Love ties between a man and a woman are connected with loss of self mastery and autonomy</p><p>* Modesty requires that men and women express lack of interest in sexuality</p><p>* A woman retains her tribal affiliation throughout her life and should side with her own kin in disputes with her husband’s kin</p><p>Sexuality is a threat to the social order in almost any society * Bedouin love matches are traditionally opposed on principal</p><p>* They violate the ideal of familial control over marriage</p><p>* They represent individual initiatives and defiance of the system</p><p>A Bedouin family in their tent in the Syrian Desert </p><p>* The paternal first cousin of a girl is ultimately responsible for preventing a love match</p><p>* Custom gives him the right to claim her in marriage</p><p>* His kinsmen pressure him to preserve the kin group’s honor</p><p>* She has behaved immodestly and threatens the honor of the kin group</p>