10 research outputs found
Using evolutionary theory to hypothesize a transition from patriliny to matriliny and back again among the ethnic Mosuo of Southwest China
Transitions to matriliny are said to be relatively rare. This evidence is sometimes used to support arguments that perceive matriliny as a problematic and unstable system of kinship. In this article, we use an evolutionary perspective to trace changes in kinship to and from matriliny among the Mosuo of Southwest China as potentially adaptive. The Mosuo are famous for practicing a relatively rare form of female-biased kinship involving matrilineal descent and inheritance, natalocal residence, and a non-marital reproductive system (âwalking marriageâ or sese). Less well documented is their patrilineal subpopulation, who practice male-biased, patrilineal inheritance and descent, patrilocal residence, and exclusive marriage. Our analysis supports the existence of a prior transition to matriliny at least a millennium ago among Mosuo residing in the Yongning Basin, followed by a subsequent transition to patriliny among Mosuo residing in the more rugged mountainous terrain near Labai. We argue that these transitions make sense in light of economic, social, and political conditions that disfavor versus favor disproportionate investments in men, in matriliny versus patriliny, respectively. We conclude that additional evidence of such transitions would shed light on explanations of variation in kinship and that convergent approaches involving analysis of genetic, archaeological, and ethnohistorical data would provide holistic understandings of kinship and social change.Published versio
Cultural Contestation in China: Ethnicity, Identity and the State
This chapter explores how the political-administrative design of the Chinese state, characterized as âmulti-level governanceâ, might be the cause of more subtle forms of resistance. By looking at the formulation of heritage policies of Lancang County, Christina Maags illustrates how the administrative fragmentation resulted in both administrative contestation and cultural contestation, with a threatened local identity at its core
Gender Differences in Social Networks Based on Prevailing Kinship Norms in the Mosuo of China.
Although cooperative social networks are considered key to human evolution, emphasis has usually been placed on the functions of menâs cooperative networks. What do womenâs networks look like? Do they differ from menâs networks and what does this suggest about evolutionarily inherited gender differences in reproductive and social strategies? In this paper, we test the âuniversal gender differencesâ hypothesis positing gender-specific network structures against the âgender reversalâ hypothesis that posits that womenâs networks look more âmasculineâ under matriliny. Specifically, we ask whether menâs friendship networks are always larger than womenâs networks and we investigate measures of centrality by gender and descent system. To do so, we use tools from social network analysis and data on menâs and womenâs friendship ties in matrilineal and patrilineal Mosuo communities. In tentative support of the gender reversal hypothesis, we find that womenâs friendship networks in matriliny are relatively large. Measures of centrality and generalized linear models otherwise reveal greater differences between communities than between men and women. The data and analyses we present are primarily descriptive given limitations of sample size and sampling strategy. Nonetheless, our results provide support for the flexible application of social relationships across genders and clearly challenge the predominant narrative of universal gender differences across space and time