Kinship and Mode of Production

Abstract

This article links the basic elements of kinship and marriage to the division of labor between the sexes. The concept of a mode of production is used to analyze the distinctive features of this organization of the labor process. These features include the categorization of persons by generation and sex and a specification of reciprocal rights and obligations. It is thus argued that kinship pertains to a particular form of production rather than to an irreducible and unchangeable human nature . [kinship, division of labor by sex, mode of production]