Traces the history of the anthropological study of kinship from the early 1900s onwards. This book presents classic works from Evans-Pritchard, Levi-Strauss, Leach, and Schneider, as well as articles on contemporary debates as surrogate motherhood, and gay and lesbian kinship.

Drawing on their complementary areas of expertise, Parkin and Stone have produced the most comprehensive reader on kinship available. Kinship and Family: An Anthropological Reader is a representative collection tracing the history of the anthropological study of kinship from the early 1900s to the present day: from the classic works of Evans-Pritchard, Lévi-Strauss, Leach, and Schneider, to the electrifying contemporary debates on such issues as surrogate motherhood, and gay and lesbian kinship.

By bringing together for the first time such an array of articles on kinship and its relation to social organization, this volume offers students and professionals a survey of the most important and critical work in the field. Kinship and Family: An Anthropological Reader includes extensive discussion and analysis of the selections that contextualizes them within theoretical debates.