Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T10:24:25.509Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Why do we need to coordinate when classifying kin?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2010

Drew Gerkey
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology & Center for Human Evolutionary Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1414. agerkey@eden.rutgers.edulcronk@anthropology.rutgers.eduanthro.rutgers.edu
Lee Cronk
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology & Center for Human Evolutionary Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1414. agerkey@eden.rutgers.edulcronk@anthropology.rutgers.eduanthro.rutgers.edu

Abstract

We suggest that there are two coordination games when it comes to understanding kin terminology. Jones' article focuses on the linguistic coordination inherent in developing meaningful kin terminologies, alluding briefly to the benefits of these kin terminologies for coordination in other domains. We enhance Jones' discussion by tracing the links between the structure of kin terminologies and their functions.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alvard, M. (2003) Kinship, lineage identity, and an evolutionary perspective on the structure of cooperative big game hunting groups in Indonesia. Human Nature 14:129–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvard, M. & Nolin, D. A. (2002) Rousseau's whale hunt? Coordination among big game hunters. Current Anthropology 43(4):533–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chagnon, N. A. (2000) Manipulating kinship rules: A form of male Yanomamö reproductive competition. In: Adaptation and human behavior: An anthropological perspective, ed. Cronk, L, Chagnon, N & Irons, W, pp. 115–31. Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Cronk, L. (2007) The influence of cultural framing on play in the trust game: A Maasai example. Evolution and Human Behavior 28:352–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cronk, L. & Gerkey, D. (2007) Kinship and descent. In: The Oxford handbook of evolutionary psychology, ed. Dunbar, R. & Barrett, L., pp. 463–78. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cronk, L. & Wasielewski, H. (2008) An unfamiliar social norm rapidly produces framing effects in an economic game. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 6(4):283308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Efferson, C., Lalive, R. & Fehr, E. (2008) The coevolution of cultural groups and ingroup favoritism. Science 321:1844–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fox, R. (1979) Kinship categories as natural categories. In: Evolutionary biology and human social behavior: An anthropological perspective, ed. Chagnon, N. A. & Irons, W., pp. 132–44. Duxbury Press.Google Scholar
Hamilton, W. D. (1964) The genetical evolution of social behaviour I and II. Journal of Theoretical Biology 7:116 and 17–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hume, D. (1740) A treatise of human nature. Book III: Of morals. Thomas Longman.Google Scholar
Irons, W. (1981) Why lineage exogamy? In: Natural selection and social behavior: Recent research and new theory, ed. Alexander, R. D. & Tinkle, D. W., pp. 476–89. Chiron.Google Scholar
Jones, D. (2000) Group nepotism and human kinship. Current Anthropology 41:779809.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, D. K. (1969) Convention: A philosophical study. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Lieberman, D., Tooby, J. & Cosmides, L. (2007) The architecture of human kin detection. Nature 445:727–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McKinnon, S. (2005) On kinship and marriage: A critique of the genetic and gender calculus of evolutionary psychology. In: Complexities: Beyond nature and nurture, ed. McKinnon, S. & Silverman, S., pp. 106–31. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Nolin, D. A. (2009) Social and genetic kinship in Lamaleran food-sharing networks. Presentation to the 108th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, December 5, 2009, Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Nolin, D. A. (2010) Food-sharing networks in Lamalera, Indonesia: Reciprocity, kinship, and distance. Human Nature 21(3):243–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sahlins, M. (1976) The use and abuse of biology: An anthropological critique of sociobiology. The University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sugden, R. (2004) The economics of rights, co-operation, and welfare. Second edition. Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Van den Berghe, P. L. (1979) Human family systems: An evolutionary view. Elsevier.Google Scholar