Dividends of kinship : meanings and uses of social relatedness

Dividends of Kinship is not intended to provide a well-rounded spectrum of the various possible ways of approaching kinship. Instead, it proposes the further elaboration of one particular perspective that has received little attention lately: namely, the functional aspects of kinship. This entails a shift of emphasis from ?meaning? to ?function? without ignoring the former. The question ?what is kinship? is, thus, reinforced by ?what is done through kinship?. Such a perspective pays particular attention to the tactical dimensions of individual strategies, without ignoring their social contexts. Thematically, this approach refers to the material, symbolic and emotional gains that can be secured through cultural constructs of relatedness.