VAID'S ICS – Best UPSC Anthropology Coaching in Delhi Since 1985

Comprehensive Classroom Course · Admissions openRegister now
+91 93113 37737
  • +91-93113 37737, +91-99999 46748
  • 73(FF), Old Rajender Nagar Market, Delhi - 110060
  • MON to SUN 9.00 am - 6.00 pm
Facebook Youtube Instagram
Menu
Enquire Now
Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2019/Paper I/Kinship
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper I 2019 15 Marks Model Answer Available

Radcliffe-Brown and Levi-Strauss on Kinship — 2019 Paper I

Question · 2019 · Paper I · 15 Marks

How did Radcliffe-Brown and Levi-Strauss study kinship in terms of social structure ?

Model Answer

VAID ICS

Approach

  • Demand of Question: Explain how Radcliffe-Brown and Lévi-Strauss interpreted kinship as an organizing principle of social structure.
  • Structuring the Response: Contrast Radcliffe-Brown’s jural-descent approach with Lévi-Strauss’s alliance and exchange approach.
  • Key Dimensions to Cover: Structural-functionalism, descent, rights and duties, joking relations, incest taboo, reciprocity, alliance and exchange.

Model Answer

Introduction: Both A.R. Radcliffe-Brown and Claude Lévi-Strauss placed kinship at the centre of social structure, but differed in emphasis. Radcliffe-Brown examined observable social relations and descent, whereas Lévi-Strauss emphasized the underlying principles of marriage alliance and reciprocity.

  1. Radcliffe-Brown: Kinship as social structure: For Radcliffe-Brown, social structure consists of the enduring network of relations connecting persons in society. Kinship organizes:
  • rights and obligations;
  • inheritance and succession;
  • authority;
  • ritual duties;
  • behavioural expectations.

Thus: Kin relation → Jural rights and duties → Social structure

  • Kinship was therefore not merely genealogical connection but a system of socially sanctioned relations.
  • Descent and continuity: Descent groups provide continuity by organizing property, political roles and ritual obligations. His analysis of Australian Aboriginal societies demonstrated how kin classifications regulate marriage and social conduct.
  • Joking and avoidance: Radcliffe-Brown also studied institutionalized joking and avoidance relationships. These patterned behaviours regulate tension and maintain equilibrium among relatives.

Hence his approach was essentially:

Kinship relations → Regulation of conduct → Maintenance of social structure

  1. Lévi-Strauss: Kinship as alliance: In The Elementary Structures of Kinship (1949), Lévi-Strauss shifted attention from descent to marriage exchange.

For him, the incest taboo forces people to seek spouses outside the immediate kin group:

Incest prohibition → Exogamy → Exchange → Alliance

Reciprocity: Influenced by Marcel Mauss, Lévi-Strauss viewed marriage as a system of reciprocal exchange creating durable relationships among groups.

He analysed:

  • cross-cousin marriage;
  • restricted exchange;
  • generalized exchange;
  • prescriptive marriage systems.

Comparison:

Radcliffe-Brown Lévi-Strauss
Structural-functional approach Structuralist approach
Emphasis on descent and relations Emphasis on alliance
Rights and obligations Reciprocity and exchange
Observable social structure Underlying structural principles
Kinship maintains groups Marriage connects groups

Conclusion: Radcliffe-Brown viewed kinship as a network of institutionalized social relationships, while Lévi-Strauss interpreted it as a system of reciprocal exchange generating alliances. Both moved kinship analysis beyond biological relatedness to its structural role in organizing society.

2026 Discuss 'incest taboo' as the basis of development of kinship systems in human societies. 2025 Theoretical significance of Purum kinship-system. 2024 Critical perspective on avoidance and joking relationship 2023 Critically discuss A.L. Kroeber's contribution to kinship studies.

Want feedback on your answer?

Join the Anthropology workshop or get structured answer-writing guidance from VAID ICS.

Join Workshop Contact VAID ICS

UPSC Anthropology Optional 2019 — Paper I

28 questions

5(a) Adaptive primate radiation

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.5 Characteristics of Primates > Evolutionary trend and primate taxonomy
2019Paper IHuman Evolution & PrimatologyModel answer available

1(d) Cultural Materialism

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Cultural Materialism
2019Paper IAnthropological TheoriesModel answer available

1(b) Cultural Relativism

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.1 The Nature of Culture > Ethnocentrism vis-a-vis Cultural Relativism
2019Paper ICulture & SocietyModel answer available

5(c) Olduvai Gorge

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.6 Phylogenetic status, characteristics and distribution > East African hominid sites
2019Paper IHuman Evolution & PrimatologyModel answer available

1(c) Pastoralism in India

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 3. Economic Organization > Modes of subsistence > Pastoralism
2019Paper IEconomic & Political AnthropologyModel answer available

1(e) Relative Dating Methods

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(a) Chronology: relative and absolute dating methods
2019Paper IPrehistoric ArchaeologyModel answer available