![]() ![]() Because women were unique in value, reciprocity ensured that men who gave their sisters away in marriage would in turn receive the sister (or sisters) of one or more other men. He suggested that the principle of reciprocity, essentially the recognition that gifts set up a series of mutual obligations between those who give and receive them, lies at the heart of human culture. Later, more-complex forms of exchange marriage were developed.īut what had encouraged this notional exchange of women in the first place? According to Lévi-Strauss, two factors obtained: the principle of reciprocity and the incest taboo. According to Lévi-Strauss, this set up a distinction between those who give wives (“wife givers”) and those who receive them (“wife takers”), thus creating the first kinship categories. The simplest form of exchange in this schema involved men exchanging their sisters. ![]() Lévi-Strauss suggested that, because women’s fertility is necessary to the reproduction of the group, women are the “supreme gift.” With no fair return for a woman except another woman, they must have been reciprocally exchanged rather than simply given away. Thus, the first social categories originated not in the realm of ideas but through the exchange of gifts. Profoundly influenced by the work of Marcel Mauss on the central role of reciprocal gift giving in “primitive” societies, Lévi-Strauss held that the transition from the animal world of “nature” to the human one of “culture” was accomplished through the medium of exchange: it was in the act of giving that the category of the self in opposition to another, or of one’s own group to another group, was actually constituted. Reciprocity, incest, and the transition from “nature” to “culture” His model became known as the alliance theory of kinship. In The Elementary Structures of Kinship (1949), Lévi-Strauss turned to kinship to try to answer these questions. He was also concerned with explaining their apparent compulsory quality, or presence within the “natural order,” in societies. His work was motivated by the question of how arbitrary social categories (such as those within kinship, race, or class) had originated. While British social anthropologists were focused on the existence of social rules and the ways in which members of different societies acted within a given framework of ideas and categories, French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss had a very different starting point. ![]() SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions. ![]()
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