Partible Paternity and Anthropological Theory: The Construction of an Ethnographic Fantasy

by Warren Shapiro

Overview

Partible Paternity and Anthropological Theory discusses the conception "partible paternity" within Amazonian Indian communities. "Partible paternity" is the idea that several sexual acts are necessary to produce a fetus and that the mother may have these with several men, who in turn have several sexual partners as well. Victorian anthropologists viewed this situation as "group marriage," a hypothetical state in which individual marriage and the family did not exist and which, presumably, once characterized Western society. The notion of "group marriage" was demolished by 1920, when it was shown that individual marriage and the family exist nearly everywhere. More recently, however, the idea has been resurrected by Stephen Beckerman and Paul Valentine in their book Cultures of Multiple Fathers. This book argues that Beckerman and Valentine are completely wrong—in Amazonia, the family exists everywhere, and the occasional trysts which result in shared paternity are subject to male sexual jealousy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761845324
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	07/16/2009
Pages:	76
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Warren Shapiro is emeritus professor of anthropology at Rutgers University. He has written on kinship and anthropological theory for over four decades; his works include three other books and dozens of articles in both professional and popular journals and magazines.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Acknowledgements
Chapter 2 Introduction
Chapter 3 Chapter 1. Three Primitivist Projects
Chapter 4 Chapter 2. The Grand Claims of Beckerman and Valentine
Chapter 5 Chapter 3. The Northwest Amazon Cases
Chapter 6 Chapter 4. Other Pertinent Cases: General Considerations
Chapter 7 Chapter 5. Evidence Pertaining to Focality in Kin Classification Simpliciter
Chapter 8 Chapter 6. Evidence Pertaining to Focality in Kin Classification Stemming from Partible Paternity
Chapter 9 Chapter 7. Evidence Pertaining to the Residential and Symbolic Isolation of the Sexually Bonded Pair and Their Dependent Offspring
Chapter 10 Chapter 8. Evidence Pertaining to Sexual Jealousy
Chapter 11 Chapter 9. Evidence Pertaining to the Denigration of Women
Chapter 12 Chapter 10. Miscellaneous Evidence
Chapter 13 Chapter 11. Conclusion
Chapter 14 Bibliography
Chapter 15 Index

Editorial Reviews

The clarity and balance of presentation of various views will greatly facilitate the readers' comprehension and stimulate lively discussion in the classroom.

Harold Scheffler

In this small but impressive volume, Shapiro critiques the notion of partible paternity using an approach informed by ethnographic inclusiveness and a carefully measured application of fate from biosocial research."

Paul Heyer

Written with an icy logic…[this book]…challenges a broad range of postmodern projects. The book is contentious, it takes no prisoners, and it will be controversial.

Thomas Gregor

Anthropology began as serious academic science. It looks to be ending in romantic primitivist fantasies for academic bobos with exotic notions of the human family, plus swinging visions of life down on the commune. That an influential popular science magazine channels material from this dubious sources to its 700,000 readers is only one of the disturbing revelations in Warren Shapiro's sharply written and challenging study.

Roger Sandall

He pulls no punches and minces no words, but his hard-hitting essay makes important points about human social behavior and current academic attitudes.

Herbert Lewis

He pulls no punches and minces no words, but his hard-hitting essay makes important points about human social behavior and current academic attitudes.--Herbert Lewis, emeritus professor of anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The clarity and balance of presentation of various views will greatly facilitate the readers' comprehension and stimulate lively discussion in the classroom.--Harold Scheffler, professor of anthropology, Yale University

Anthropology began as serious academic science. It looks to be ending in romantic primitivist fantasies for academic bobos with exotic notions of the human family, plus swinging visions of life down on the commune. That an influential popular science magazine channels material from this dubious sources to its 700,000 readers is only one of the disturbing revelations in Warren Shapiro's sharply written and challenging study.--Roger Sandall, author of The Culture Cult

From the Publisher