'Kinning' with the neighbours, ritualizing the kin: ritual bonding and negotiating resources.
Panel W106 at conference EASA08: Experiencing diversity and mutuality.
The intention of this panel is to explore ritual kin relations and alternative support networks in the wake of privatization processes and the impact of neoliberal reforms, primarily (although not solely) in the former socialist states.
Long Abstract:
There is a growing concern in anthropology with the significance of connections which are not established through natal consanguinity and marital affinity. We invite contributions that explore the issue of ritual kin relations (such as godparenthood or closer ties with neighbours) in the context of changing economic situations. We are particularly interested in ritual kin in former socialist states where economic and political reforms have perhaps lent greater pertinence to such relationships, although we welcome ethnographic accounts from other regions as well. While always important, ritual kinship bonds now appear to be undergoing significant transformations as a consequence of deindustrialization, rising unemployment and a dramatic increase in mobility due to labour migration. For example, in times of particular economic difficulty, obligations relating to labour and the construction and maintenance of the household are concentrated within the rural family by inviting consaguineal kin to act as godparents (once chosen on the basis of wealth or social status). However, in other contexts, the opposite strategy of distributing one's connections as broadly as possible can also be seen as a strategy for dealing with economic uncertainty. How should we approach these types of changes in ritual kin relations in the context of an increasing trend towards privatization of resources (where presumably kin ties are strengthened)? What alternative practices of support are being developed or expanded beyond kinship relations in the context of rising inequalities between certain sectors of the population (characteristic to all neoliberal economies)? When are support networks institutionalized in the form of ritual kin relationships and under what circumstances?
This paper examines ritual kin relations (okyl ata-ene) that take on a patron-client form and looks at the manipulative strategies of such relations.
Paper long abstract:
Kyrgyz patron-client relationships have been substantially modified in response to the current socio-economic conditions in the country. During the trial and error process of privatization after 1991, an emerging moral crisis and ideological search has led to a confusion of identities and the rule of a profit-oriented ideology. This has encouraged people to seek more personal connections which provide greater security. People respond to rapid social changes by resorting to traditions, accepting informal networks, and legitimating impersonal commercial transactions. Due to economic changes that led to social stratification, economically secure kin have excluded their economically unstable kin from their social circle. In response, the 'poor' have established 'patron-client' networks with non-kin local elites in order to secure their economic interests. This relationship is encoded through 'kinship terminology', and has given particular practices significant status and assumed responsibilities. 'Poor' families honour wealthy businessmen, as 'spiritual parents' (okyl ata-ene) of young married couples or as 'milk-parents' for new born infants. In this way, the disintegration of actual 'rich-poor' kinship relations is addressed through non-kin patron-client ties that are wrapped in kinship language. Such patron-client relationships form vital links in larger social networks, and as such can be analyzed as a coping strategy for survival in response to the specificities of the "market economy". Patron-client relations - traditional patterns of Kyrgyz social relations - are increasingly disguised under the umbrella of ritual kin relations. The purpose is not to exhaustively map patron-client relations (okyl ata-ene) but to examine how they represent an adaptive response to dramatic economic, social and political changes in Kyrgyzstan's post-Soviet environment.
My paper will analyse godparenthood as a means to obtain social capital and as "complicit insurance" for the purpose of accessing, illegally and informally, forest resources in rural Romania.
Paper long abstract:
In postsocialist Romania one hears very often of corruption scandals. In these scandals, a fashionable word is "nepotism". The word nepotism has the same sense as in English, but it has also the connotation of favouring one kin in particular - "nepot" is understood to mean nephew. Thus, to be kin to somebody important opens doors to resources or to favourable court decisions. One way for expanding kin ties is godparenthood, a much respected religious rule for Romanians. Parallel to its religious significance, godparenthood is often associated with business activities. Most choose godparents on the basis of relative wealth; godparents are those with an important job and good connections. 'Good' godparents also have to be "affordable", because there is the expectation of the constant exchange of gifts, through occasions marked in the popular calendar.
I will show how ritual kin relations function as a means of illegal access to recently privatised forest resources and as a form of "backup insurance" in the case of accusations. This type of strong tie is used as an anchor, alongside other more weak ties, in order to establish oneself in a web of patron-client relationships that contributes to economic prosperity in times of the "rule of the jungle". A particularly interesting example is extended cases where the practice of godparenthood can be expanded so far as to comprise up to twenty-five pairs of godparents for one couple. In such cases, the ties become so weak that their ability to connect can lead to the deterioration of the presupposed clientelistic effect.
In the Bjelovar region, village (face to face) communities dominate the social landscape. The sharing of work tasks between neighbours, friends and godparents through activities such as the harvesting of maize, has not only an economic, but also a social dimension.
Paper long abstract:
In the Bjelovar region, village (face to face) communities, dominate the social landscape. People are well informed about the lives of others, especially when important life-cycle rituals such as weddings, pregnancies, births and divorces take place. During these events villagers get a chance to talk about topics which are not otherwise talked about openly. People meet each other on a daily basis - for example, dropping in to see a neighbour is for most people a normal everyday event which provides the opportunity to learn about and communicate significant daily life events, through just chatting and drinking coffee together or through helping with a particular task or problem. The sharing of work tasks between neighbours, friends and godparents, such as harvesting wine and maize, has not only an economic but also social dimension. In my presentation I will give examples of different forms of mutual help, and address questions such as: what encourages these relations, what kind of values are played out through such relations, what practices are favoured and deemed socially acceptable. Emphasis will be given to relations between next door neighbours which have a special significance and underwent particular changes as a result of the changing economic situation. Villagers mostly chose best friends and next door neighbours as godparents. One may therefore ask: is asking someone to be a godparent a deliberate strategy to make them into a relative? The paper's findings are based on the narratives of inhabitants.
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