Does reliance on kin erode with market integration? A social network perspective

University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM

Investigators

Abstract

Kinship has been the basis of social structure for most of human history whereas it plays a more variable role in organizing contemporary societies. Across settings, kinship plays a fundamental role in regulating access to material and economic resources, inspiring long-held interest across the social sciences in explaining the feedback between social and economic systems. Market integration is a process that involves a transition from subsistence-oriented lifestyles to ones based more heavily on market-oriented consumption and production. This project investigates the effects of market integration on social structure, specifically focusing on variation in the density of kin in social support networks. The project trains an anthropological graduate student in empirical, scientific data collection and analysis in cultural anthropology. Additionally, the project promotes public understanding of the science of human sociality by broad sharing of findings through publications, collaborative galleries, and lectures in academic and non-academic venues. The core hypothesis tested in this research is that kinship ties in personal networks erode under increasing levels of market integration. The research uses a hybrid theoretical framework, inspired by evolutionary cultural anthropology, and mixed qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how market-integration-related activities affect social support networks among kin and non-kin in a society that is transitioning from an agricultural base to one more strongly rooted in regional markets. The research includes a year-long ethnographic study involving social network interviews, community mapping, semi-structured interviews, socio-demographic questionnaires, and anthropometric assessments to obtain data that links economic, social, and health variables in contexts with varying degrees of market engagement. These systematically collected data will enrich the understanding of when, how, and why kinship relationships may break down and what consequences this has on social relationships and welfare. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.