Marriage Exchanges: A Melanesian Comment

Strathern, Marilyn

doi:10.1146/annurev.an.13.100184.000353

Cited by 65 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…However, in their critiques many scholars have continued to focus on the structure of dowry as an institution that has most fundamentally to do with the issue of property transmission across generations. By contrast, the present study takes as its point of departure the recognition by many scholars over the past decade that marriage exchanges do not merely valorise marriage ties or transfer property, but also act as important cultural and social institutions through which social relations are negotiated and substantialised (e.g., Barnes 1980;Collier 1988;Comaroff 1980;Smith 1987;Strathern 1984). The manner in which people talk about and manipulate marriage exchanges has not only to do with negotiations between future affines but with the negotiation of broader social relationships as well.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Dowry and prestige in north India

Antoinette¹

1996

Contributions to Indian Sociology

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This paper explores the current practice and representation of dowry marriage by members of Brahman, Gosain and Chamar families in semi-rural eastern Uttar Pradesh. The paper approaches dowry not primarily as an institution to do with the transfer of property at marriage, but more importantly as the currently most significant means of assessing and representing social status, honour and prestige in the region. As the most comprehensive public measure of social prestige, dowry was an important arena within which people represented their social positions and their relations to others. The paper explores people's discursive constructions of dowry marriage and the manner in which they used their understanding of dowry to reflect upon social relations within. their communities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Dowry and prestige in north India

Antoinette¹

1996

Contributions to Indian Sociology

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“…The increasing mobility of many Papua New Guineans seeking education, work and other opportunities in urban centres, has led to a rising number of marriages across different language groups, sometimes between people who have very different brideprice customs (Macintyre 2011:109–110; Rosi and Zimmer‐Tamakoshi 1993). Differences may include the types and amounts of objects exchanged, the expected timing of exchanges, the particular people who are expected to contribute to the wealth and those who will benefit from its redistribution, and so on (Merlan 1988; Strathern 1984). So called ‘mixed marriages’ can lead to significant tensions as the bride and groom and their extended families try to accommodate the demands of each side arising from different customary practices, in themselves dynamic and changing.…”

Section: An Extraordinary Weddingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brideprice and Prejudice: An Audio‐Visual Ethnography on Marriage and Modernity in Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea

Henry

Vávrová

2020

Oceania

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The relationship between bridewealth and women's autonomy is not only discussed amongst anthropologists, development practitioners and other scholars but also amongst brides themselves. Women continue to embrace such marital exchanges, despite their knowledge of 'modern' development discourse about the constraints of the practice on women's status and its links to gender-based violence. This paper provides a visual exploration of contemporary brideprice practices and women's autonomy in Mt Hagen. We draw on scenes from our ethnographic film (An Extraordinary Wedding: Marriage and Modernity in Highlands PNG) to explore deliberations and developments that occurred in the case of a particular marriage that took place in 2012. We argue that the institution of brideprice has the potential to enhance the visibility of some women and the importance of their contribution to their own and husbands' kin groups. Despite current tensions regarding brideprice, it can serve as an avenue for the enhancement of women's political participation. The particular brideprice exchange featured in our film, raised concerns for the participants, which we consider in terms of three questions: Does brideprice commodify women? Does it play a role in gender-based violence? Is it inimical to aspirations for modernist individuality? We discuss the importance of bekim ('return gift') and suggest that this practice challenges the notion of brideprice as a commodity transaction. We argue that, while there may be an association between brideprice and gender-based violence, brideprice, in and of itself, is not causative of violence. The marriage represented in the film, and discussed in this paper, reveals the creativity of participants in adjusting the values inherent in the customary practice of brideprice to their contemporary aspirations.

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“…In other words, how people think about reproduction comprises an integral part of how they do it: human reproduction does not simply happen by itself, just as there is no 'automatic' biological mechanism that produces new human beings. As the history of anthropological research has documented (Strathern, 1984), reproduction is universally subjected to elaborate social control and is always modelled in a manner that parallels and complements other social structures. Consequently, fertility is always a social product as well as a biological one.…”

Section: The Sociology Of Ivfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conception through a looking glass: the paradox of IVF

Franklin

2013

Reproductive BioMedicine Online

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As we enter the fifth decade of human IVF, this technique presents a paradox. On the one hand, IVF has become more regular and ordinary, even a new norm of social life. On the other hand, it has arguably become, as Alice might have said, 'curiouser and curiouser', with the development of its applications such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, preimplantation genetic diagnosis and gestational surrogacy, as well as human embryonic stem cell derivation. Five million miracle babies later, in the midst of 'the age of biological control', IVF can be seen as the source of important changes in how reproductive biology is understood - socially, ethically, medically and in terms of basic science. This article reviews three decades of social scientific research into IVF and suggests that, while the passage of time may have allowed IVF to become more 'routine', the opposite is also true. With hindsight, some of the more radical changes to the understandings of parenthood, kinship, fertility and technology to which IVF has contributed can be appreciated. Learning from this paradox must be part of the legacy of IVF's first half-century if its future evolution is to be directed wisely, safely and conscientiously.

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Marriage Exchanges: A Melanesian Comment

Cited by 65 publications

References 111 publications

Dowry and prestige in north India

Dowry and prestige in north India

Brideprice and Prejudice: An Audio‐Visual Ethnography on Marriage and Modernity in Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea

Conception through a looking glass: the paradox of IVF

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