After Nature English Kinship in the Late Twentieth Century [Paperback]

After Nature is a timely account of fundamental constructs in English kinship at a moment when advances in reproductive technologies are raising questions about the natural basis of kinship relations.Central as kinship has been to the development of British social anthropology, this is the first attempt by an anthropologist to situate ideas about English kinship in a cultural context.Central as kinship has been to the development of British social anthropology, this is the first attempt by an anthropologist to situate ideas about English kinship in a cultural context.Central as kinship has been to the development of British social anthropology, this is the first attempt by an anthropologist to situate ideas about English kinship in a cultural context. Marilyn Strathern challenges the traditional separation of Western kinship studies from the study of the wider society. If contemporary society appears diverse, changing and fragmented, these same features also apply to people's ideas about kinship. She views ideas of relatedness, nature and the biological constitution of persons in their cultural context, and offers new insights into the late twentieth-century values of individualism and consumerism. After Nature is a timely reflection at a moment when advances in reproductive technology raise questions about the natural basis of kinship relations.Acknowledgements; Preface: making explicit; 1. Individuality and diversity; 2. Analogies for a plural culture; 3. The progress of polite society; 4. Greenhouse effect; Recapitulation: nostalgia from a postplural world; Footnotes; References. ...a circuitous and often insightful examination of Englih middle-class culture, as wel as an extended commentary on anthropology and its approach to the study of kinship. Choice It is impossible to do justice to all the themes, reflections and methodological suggestions discussed by Strathern....her social critique, her commitment to environmental issues, and, above all, her readinelót