Family and Kinship in Village India

Family and Kinship in Village India is an article written by David W. McCurdy in
1997. David W. McCurdy is a Professor Emeritus at Macalester university. His research focuses
on comparative religions in the United States and South Asia. The author briefly compares the
ideas of the social world we live in and the kinship system of the Bhils from the village of
Ratakote in Southern India. Social world includes a non-kin structure such as work place, and
church. It is the social occasions when we spend time meeting with people that are outside our
own family. The article discusses how cash labor can be a potential threat to the kinship
structured India. However, McCurdy believes that kinship shaped societies have used their
family ties to adapt to the emerging cash-labor-oriented modernizing world. He supports this
claim by explaining the importance of kin in arranged marriage and their life in the village.
McCurdys article is a field research report. He stayed in the village of Ratakote in
Southern India and spent time living with Bhils over years. McCurdy explains their unbreakable
kinship by elaborating on how kin is involved in their tradition of arranged marriage. He first
explains that Bhils take loyalty to family over personal independence. Thats why everyone in
the village of Ratakote supports the custom of arranged marriage. To them, marriage can affect
their familys reputation, and family reputation plays a bigger role than their personal love
interests. Social strength and security are the crucial factors of ones reputation. Kinship centered
culture values reputation based on the quality and the number of a familys allied kin. McCurdy
uses Kanji, a Bhil he met with in Ratakote and his family as an example. In order for Kanjis
family to expand their lineages, build alliances and gain reputations, they first need to find a
groom from a family that matches or exceeds their social status. Kanji needs to select few
candidates and discusses with his family. His family needs to know the background information
of all the candidates such as whatre their reputations like, and whats their education. The
groom has to be approved by Kanjis lineage to marry his daughter. Marriage becomes a greater
role for Kanjis family than to his daughters love interests, and such important decisions should
not be handled by the youngsters but their parents and relatives that have greater experience.
Many years later when McCurdy revisited the village, he noticed that Kanjis daughter
and son-in-law were missing from home. He was told by Kanji that they moved out of the village
for work. In fact, most men chose to work outside the village because there wasnt enough space
to farm or produce food to feed the growing population. Though working outside of their
hometown can free their economic dependency from their family, they would have problem with
fulfilling their obligations to their family regularly. However, McCurdy heard from Kanji that his
daughter and his son-in law would visit them regularly. They would also send money to Kanji
and try to attend to their obligations. Though the economic structures have changed, the kinship
in Ratakote for Bhils still remain very strong. In fact, Bhils that move into other countries would
continue to arrange marriages for their children. Living in another places is also an expansion of
their kin. Bhils can benefit from spreading themselves outside their border. An Indian student of
McCurdys has found relatives in every American city he has visited.
Kinship is relevant to people that are interested in the topic of this field. Kinship is the
universal connection between different countries. Although many countries such as the United
States are less kin-based than India, kinship is still the foundation of Americans culture. In order
to fully understand a culture, its fundamental to learn their Kinship system. In Ratakote,
McCurdy understands their social behaviors by learning the tradition of arranged marriage. This
reminds me of the class materials on how different types of kinship-centered culture have shaped
each behavior. Kinship-centered cultures can be very different depending on their lineage groups.
Bhils are unilineal descent group, meaning their lineage passed through the fathers side of the
family. Unilineal descent group has institutionalized behavior. They focus on extended family
rather than nuclear family. Thats the reason why unilineal group has more strict rules against
incest than Bilateral kindred group does. For people that are interested in the topic, I think the
article does a good on embracing a different culture equally. At first, McCurdy feels unrelated
and confused about arranged marriage. Its important for people to judge before they fully
understand ones culture. We need to be cultural relativism instead of ethnocentrism. People
should accept cultures, and the entire ways of living. As for an anthropology student, I think the
article can focus more on the women side of the unilineal decent group. McCurdy slightly
touches on the gender inequality in Ratakote when he explains the brides price. I would hope to
see more interviews about womens feelings as they are being treated poorly in their culture.
Although people outside their culture might be offended, women from the village might not hold
any opinions against it but to embrace their custom.