Kinship and Gender ― An Introduction

Does kinship still matter in today’s globalized, increasingly mobile world? Do family structures continue to influence the varied roles that men and women play in different cultures? Answering with a resounding ‘yes!’, Linda Stone and Diane E. King offer a lively introduction to and working knowledge of kinship. They firmly link these concepts to cross-cultural gender studies, illuminating the malleable nature of gender roles around the world and over time.
 
Written to engage students, each chapter provides key terms and useful generalizations gleaned through research on the interplay of kinship and gender in both traditional societies and contemporary communities. Detailed case studies and cross-cultural examples help students understand how such generalizations are experienced in real life. The authors also consider the ramifications of current social problems and recent developments in reproductive technology as they demonstrate the relevance of kinship and gender to students’ lives.
 
The fully-revised sixth edition contains new case studies on foster parenting in the United States and on domestic violence and lineal masculinity, plus material on pets as family members. There is also a comparison of the adoption of new reproductive technologies in Israel with other countries, along with a discussion of the issue of trans-national movements in the use of these technologies.

Linda Stone is professor emeritus of anthropology at Washington State University. She is the co-author of Myths of Culture: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology and Gender and Culture in America and Genes, Culture, and Human Evolution.

Diane King is associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at University of Kentucky. She has conducted research extensively in the Middle East (especially the Kurdistan Region of Iraq) and is a kinship/gender specialist. She is author of Kurdistan on the Global State: Kinship, Land and Community in Iraq.