Discussion 2
Chimpanzee family
Above: Baby chimpanzees chew sticks as an adult chimpanzee watches at the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Fla. Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
Compare and contrast the ideas of Smuts, Hrdy, Harris, Fox and Chapais on the evolutionary origins of human kinship. What is your position on each of the theories discussed?
For each discussion forum the following are expected:
Initial posting of 150-250 words
Refer specifically to the assigned readings and/or video in your posts.
Instructor’s Commentary
In this module, you will be introduced to the kinship code used by anthropologists to denote relationships. The code is a shorthand way for writing about kinship relationships and will be used throughout the assigned readings. Please become familiar and comfortable with it. Further, all of the “specialized” terms and concepts used in the overview, above, are defined in the assigned readings.
They are also defined either in the Appendix or the glossary found at the end of the text, Kinship and Gender: An Introduction, by Linda Stone. It is important to read and understand these definitions and concepts as they are the foundation for understanding the social and cultural organizing roles of kinship.
Above: Three-week-old bonobo baby Luebo is caressed by his mother Lisala, in 2006. In their habitat in central Africa, bonobos are threatened with extinction. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
In this module, you will also explore theories of kinship evolution, such as sociobiology, and evolutionary psychology, evolutionary survival strategies and mate selection. Primate studies, demonstrating kinship recognition, as well as primitive descent and alliance patterns are also presented, including an interesting case study in Chapter 2. Male and female primate reproduction strategies, aggression and dominance are discussed and compared.
The evolutionary transition to human kinship is presented and compared with the patterns of more primitive kinship observed among nonhuman primates. Extrapolation of nonhuman primate kinship behavior to human primates is very informative and suggestive, but limited as human kinship is much more complicated. Primate data suggest, however, that while human kinship’s roots lie in our shared primate evolutionary history and is not purely a cultural construction, humans created adaptive forms of kinship extending relationship beyond biological connections. These issues are explored in the readings and videos in this module.
Helpful Hints (AKA) Words of Wisdom
Please carefully read the module overview, module learning objectives and module discussion assignments. They are written and designed to help you process and understand the readings. It can be very helpful to read the discussion questions and written assignments before reading the assigned chapters as this may help to focus your reading. Another tool in focusing your readings is to pay attention to the chapter’s subheadings… don’t just read over them. They are there for a reason, so as you read, keep the subheadings in mind – they are kind of a map pointing you to important points in the chapter.
Video Assignment:
https://digital-films-com.library.esc.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=52549
