Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Maps
- 1 Introduction: assumptions, procedures, methods
- 2 Kinship, culture and theory
- 3 What is kinship in the West Indies?
- 4 The structure of genealogies
- 5 Marriage in the formation of west Indian society
- 6 Modern marriage and other arrangements
- 7 Sex role differentiation
- 8 Household and family
- 9 Conclusion
- References
- Index
- Cambridge Studies in Social Anthropology
8 - Household and family
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Maps
- 1 Introduction: assumptions, procedures, methods
- 2 Kinship, culture and theory
- 3 What is kinship in the West Indies?
- 4 The structure of genealogies
- 5 Marriage in the formation of west Indian society
- 6 Modern marriage and other arrangements
- 7 Sex role differentiation
- 8 Household and family
- 9 Conclusion
- References
- Index
- Cambridge Studies in Social Anthropology
Summary
It is but of late, that the planters have paid much attention to elegance in their habitations: their general rule was, to build what they call a make-shift; so that it was not unusual to see a plantation adorned with a very expensive set of works, of brick or stone, well executed; and the owner residing in a miserable thatched hovel, hastily put together with wattles and plaister, damp, unwholesome, and infested with every species of vermin. But the houses in general, as well in the country parts as the towns, have been greatly improved within these last twenty years. The furniture of some of them is extremely costly; and others constructed in so magnificent a style, and of such durable materials, as to shew that they were not intended for a mere temporary residence.
Edward Long 1774This chapter draws together some of the main threads of the argument by considering the question with which we began: what is the relation between kinship, family structure and domestic relations? Concern with the ‘domestic domain’ has dominated the study of kinship for the past fifty years, and has exerted enormous influence on our understanding of the family in the Caribbean. In Meyer Fortes' graphic phrase it has been assumed that the household is ‘the workshop of social reproduction’ (1958, p. 2).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Kinship and Class in the West IndiesA Genealogical Study of Jamaica and Guyana, pp. 149 - 176Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1988