Kinship capital: young mothers,kinship networks and support in urban South Africa

ABSTRACT

In this paper, I explore kinship and other networks of support for young mothers and their babies after an unintended, ex-nuptial pregnancy in a resource-poor urban setting. I draw on in-depth interviews conducted with 30 young mothers aged 18 to 20 years old and follow up interviews conducted with 9 of them. The interviews focused on three main areas: pregnancy and birth, education and income generation, and support networks. I present three cases that reflect variability in support and kinship network patterns. I use genograms and kinship network maps to identify sources of support and kinship networks within and outside households. Paying attention to the location and distribution of networks, I engage with the role of kinship capital and other forms of support in mitigating some of the negative consequences of early, unplanned motherhood. I show how young mothers draw on support from kinship networks which in turn adapt and reconfigure to provide support, allowing young mothers to exercise agency in relation to aspirations around educational attainment and income generation.     

Traditional kinship foster care in northern Ghana: the experiences and views of children, carers and adults in Tamale

Surveys were employed to explore the experiences of children in care and their carers about traditional fostering. They also examined the perspectives of randomly selected adults in the community about the practice of traditional foster care in the Tamale area of northern Ghana. The 74 participants responded to closed- and open-ended interview questions about traditional foster care. Frequencies and thematic grouping of qualitative responses showed that the need to keep family ties alive was the key reason for placement of children with family and kin. Majority of the children expressed satisfaction with living in foster care, even though they had experienced physical and emotional abuse and intimidation. Although most carers were not formally employed and had little personal income, they were positive about having the care role, but faced challenges in providing for many children in a difficult economic situation. The report highlights the role of reciprocity, altruistic and socio-cultural factors in quality of care, and the potential for the traditional kinship foster care to provide suitable avenues of placement for children as recommended by the Ghana child rights law. It also identifies the need for education for carers around children's needs and Ghana's child rights law.     

THE POLITICS OF THE DOORSTEP

This paper considers the legacy of continuing activism of women in the North East of England who organized in support of the 1984–85 miners’ strike. It refers to the traditional responsibility of women in mining localities for the maintenance of neighbourhood and kin relations and using the example of a key activist in one ex-mining village, it argues that the values associated with ‘mining community’ remain relevant as a reference point for a self-conscious, politicized reshaping of local relationships in post-industrial conditions. The material basis for this self-conscious approach has shifted from the masculine sphere of mining work and its associated community institutions to the feminized sphere of location and neighbourhood.     

民间社会中的拟亲属关系研究

依据访谈调查，讨论了现代社会民众生活中传统的拟亲属关系所承载的重要社会功能。个案的情况表明，现代理性制度化关系在调查地无法取代传统情感性关系。同时也说明，现代化建设过程中，力主打破的一些传统恰是民间社会所需要的资源。反思这一错位现象，具有重要意义。     

维吾尔语亲属称谓αpα的语义演变问题

维吾尔语亲属称谓词浕ｐ浕在维吾尔语方言、土语和突厥语族语言中有不同称谓现象 ,结合有关民俗文化可见其来源和演变情况     

KinCareTech: Interactive,Internet-Based Software to Support Kinship Caregivers

Kinship care has advantages over traditional foster care, but kinship caregivers have fewer resources and receive less support or training. Technology may be one way to evaluate needs and provide support. KinCareTech is a collaboratively developed, single-session Internet-based program designed to promote early reading and/or parenting skills through an interactive, caregiver-focused brief intervention. KinCareTech was used by a group of 10 kinship caregivers who then provided quantitative and qualitative feedback regarding the acceptability and helpfulness of the software. Feedback from these kinship caregivers suggested that they saw the software as easy to use, helpful, and relevant to their concerns.     

文化的建构与实践：永宁摩梭人亲属制度再研究

亲属称谓作为人类学中一个独特的研究领域,有其独特的性质。生活在泸沽湖周边的永宁摩梭人因独特的社会形态、两性关系与家庭组织而使其亲属制度具有独特的自身逻辑,为我们研究不同文化背景中社会群体对亲属概念的分类提供了一个经典的、独特的个案,显示出极高的人类学研究价值,挑战了以往民族志资料中亲属分类的固有模式。本文将永宁摩梭人的亲属观念置于摩梭文化的整体观念体系中进行再研究,通过大量摩梭谚语、习语的引证,揭示了永宁摩梭人独特的亲属制度是其独特的文化建构与实践的结果,亲属体系的运作依赖其独特的社会制度、文化信仰与价值观念。     

亲属网络与性别建构--以红山峪村为例

红山峪村①村民的亲属关系,除了同一宗族关系以及姻亲关系②之外,还有仪式亲属,即干亲和结拜带来的结拜兄弟、结拜姊妹这两种亲属关系.本文还以同学关系以及近年来由于外出就业产生的朋友关系以及制度化的同事关系为佐证,分析一个村落的男女两性的亲属网络,指出造成男女两性亲属关系差异的根本原因在于从夫居制度以及社会性别制度.