Examining patterns of mate selection and the core issue of agency, this brief article reports on fi eldwork in a remote community in Pakistan, where the family continues to have supervening infl uence over individual choices in mate selection through exchange marriages. It explores the role of the family as a security provider and demonstrates the limited scope for individual agency. The behaviour of the family in mate selection, where strong security concerns are observed, indicates a culture-centered approach to tackle the issue in a clan context, where members try to maximise various aspects of security in the exchange of mate relations. Intensive fi eldwork indicates signifi cant feelings of insecurity among individuals over spouse selection and adoption of family-centered choices. Often the families of this agrarian community give priority to exchange marriages of their offspring, leaving limited options for the evasion of family control, since social security concerns normally prevail. The article also considers briefl y the wider implications of such research.

No abstract

The structuralist and social exchange theorists relate the system of the exchange marriage mainly to socioeconomic interests, the formation of political and social alliances, as well as to the creation of a kinship network. However, they negate the inherited problems of the system of the exchange. This article discloses positive and negative aspects of the exchange and the cycle of social exchange. This study focuses on the notion of adequate social exchange. The study reveals tensions between individual and collective perspectives, as well as the conditions under which it-gradually and slightly-is being transformed on the basis of the notion of the adequate social exchange.

Organotin(IV) carboxylates of the general formula R n SnL 4-n (where R = Me, n-Bu or Ph, and L = α-phenyl-2,3-(methylenedioxy)cinnamate anion or 2-(2,3-dimethlylanilino)nicotinate anion) have been prepared. The mono-, di-and tri-organotin(IV) carboxylates were synthesized by the reaction of organotin(IV) oxides or hydroxides with a stoichiometric amount of the ligand acids at an elevated temperature in dry toluene. The composition of the synthesized organotin(IV) complexes, the bonding behavior of the donor groups and structural assignments were studied by elemental analysis, FT-IR, 1 H-, 13 C-NMR and mass spectrometry. The spectral data suggest that the ligand acts in a bidentate manner, coordinating through the oxygen atoms. These spectroscopic techniques revealed a distorted tetrahedral geometry in the solution state for the tri-organotins, while a mean coordination number between five to six for the di-organotin(IV) dicarboxylates. In the solid phase, the tri-organotins were essentially trigonal bipyramidal polymeric while the di-organotins were octahedral. However, mono-organotin tricarboxylates were predicted to exist in the octahedral state both in solution as well as in the solid phase.

No abstract