Kinship plays an important role in social identity for the Laviallois. The main kinship unit is the household, but the wider kindred establishes “insider” status within Lavialle. I was first taken aback in early fieldwork by differing claims to kinship. One person would tell me that he or she was related to another person who, in turn, would deny such a link. This type of “flexibility” is discussed by Bourdieu, who also found it in his natal village in the region of Béarn (Bourdieu 1962; 1972). With the concept of cousinage, he points out that one picks and chooses among kin in French peasant villages, since there are so many “potential” relatives if the link is pursued far enough back in time. Two distant cousins may emphasize the kinship component of their friendship through cousinage, while some closer biological relatives may choose, for social or economic reasons, to downplay their link.

Bourdieu's observation is quite apt in Lavialle. It is a highly endogamous commune, especially if endogamy is viewed from the regional level. Over two-thirds of the 1980 population was native to Lavialle. Of those who were not, almost 90% were native to the department of Puy-de-Dôme; all were French. One-half of all adults in Lavialle who were not born there were born in the district of Grosbourg. These people are rarely seen as true “outsiders,” and are part of local social networks that go beyond the commune. The families of these Grosbourg natives most often have had kin and other social links with families in Lavialle before the wedding.