Notes: Family - Lineage & Descent | Sociology Mains Optional for UPSC 2024 PDF Download

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Unit 9 
Q. Describe importance of lineage and descent in kinship and family. 
 
Ans: Kinship is the trait of persons recognized by the relationship - Either through blood 
or marriage.  
It plays crucial role in formation and maintenance of social structure and social system. 
Lineage: 
- It is the principle based upon which inheritance is chosen.  
Example: Patrilineage, Matrilineage. 
- It refers to a particular type of kin group in which a member has a common ancestor 
whose identity is known. 
Descent: 
- It is the principle whereby a child is socially affiliated with the group of his/her parents. 
 
Importance in kinship and family: 
Functions of Descent Groups: (mostly in simple societies) 
 
1) Marriage Regulation (rules of exogamy)  
2) Economic cooperation (Loans)  
3) Land held in common (villages belonging to a particular Lineage)  
4) Agricultural cooperation on field (during sowing, harvesting)  
5) Religious practices (Kul devtas)  
6) Solidarity during death  
7) Celebrations during child birth, marriage, other events, etc 
8) Political Cohesion  
9) Dispute resolution by Lineage head (Panchayats)  
10) Legacy (good name commanded by a group)  
 
Now: 
Kindered groups are rising because of advent of specialised industrialised societies.  
 
Kindered active in : 
Page 2


 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
https://testseries.sleepyclasses.com/ 
Sleepy Classes 
Unit 9 
Q. Describe importance of lineage and descent in kinship and family. 
 
Ans: Kinship is the trait of persons recognized by the relationship - Either through blood 
or marriage.  
It plays crucial role in formation and maintenance of social structure and social system. 
Lineage: 
- It is the principle based upon which inheritance is chosen.  
Example: Patrilineage, Matrilineage. 
- It refers to a particular type of kin group in which a member has a common ancestor 
whose identity is known. 
Descent: 
- It is the principle whereby a child is socially affiliated with the group of his/her parents. 
 
Importance in kinship and family: 
Functions of Descent Groups: (mostly in simple societies) 
 
1) Marriage Regulation (rules of exogamy)  
2) Economic cooperation (Loans)  
3) Land held in common (villages belonging to a particular Lineage)  
4) Agricultural cooperation on field (during sowing, harvesting)  
5) Religious practices (Kul devtas)  
6) Solidarity during death  
7) Celebrations during child birth, marriage, other events, etc 
8) Political Cohesion  
9) Dispute resolution by Lineage head (Panchayats)  
10) Legacy (good name commanded by a group)  
 
Now: 
Kindered groups are rising because of advent of specialised industrialised societies.  
 
Kindered active in : 
 
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- Celebrations 
- Mourning  
- Loans  
- Babysitting 
- Network for accessing business opportunities & job opportunities  
- Helping hand in far away places.  
 
(Descent group now becoming a kindered group) 
 
Lineage has important place in kinship and family system. 
Family is the smallest descent group compared to lineage. 
Some tribes in Northeast India and some communities in South India are matrilineal 
while patrilineal society is mostly found. 
  
Page 3


 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
https://testseries.sleepyclasses.com/ 
Sleepy Classes 
Unit 9 
Q. Describe importance of lineage and descent in kinship and family. 
 
Ans: Kinship is the trait of persons recognized by the relationship - Either through blood 
or marriage.  
It plays crucial role in formation and maintenance of social structure and social system. 
Lineage: 
- It is the principle based upon which inheritance is chosen.  
Example: Patrilineage, Matrilineage. 
- It refers to a particular type of kin group in which a member has a common ancestor 
whose identity is known. 
Descent: 
- It is the principle whereby a child is socially affiliated with the group of his/her parents. 
 
Importance in kinship and family: 
Functions of Descent Groups: (mostly in simple societies) 
 
1) Marriage Regulation (rules of exogamy)  
2) Economic cooperation (Loans)  
3) Land held in common (villages belonging to a particular Lineage)  
4) Agricultural cooperation on field (during sowing, harvesting)  
5) Religious practices (Kul devtas)  
6) Solidarity during death  
7) Celebrations during child birth, marriage, other events, etc 
8) Political Cohesion  
9) Dispute resolution by Lineage head (Panchayats)  
10) Legacy (good name commanded by a group)  
 
Now: 
Kindered groups are rising because of advent of specialised industrialised societies.  
 
Kindered active in : 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
https://testseries.sleepyclasses.com/ 
Sleepy Classes 
- Celebrations 
- Mourning  
- Loans  
- Babysitting 
- Network for accessing business opportunities & job opportunities  
- Helping hand in far away places.  
 
(Descent group now becoming a kindered group) 
 
Lineage has important place in kinship and family system. 
Family is the smallest descent group compared to lineage. 
Some tribes in Northeast India and some communities in South India are matrilineal 
while patrilineal society is mostly found. 
  
 
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Q. How do rules of descent and alliance in kinship differ from each other? 
Illustrate. 
Ans:  
In the study of kinship, two theories – the descent theory and the alliance theory were 
proposed by anthropologists.  
This was to work out the different structures of kinship through the models based on 
birth and marriage ties.  
Kinship group are formed on the basis of certain principles.  
Alliance and descent are important major structural approaches in study of kinship 
system. 
Alliance: The bond between two families following a marriage is described as 
relationship of alliance. 
It primarily dictates, whom one should marry. 
Descent: It is the principle whereby a child is socially affiliated with the group of his or 
her parents. 
It primarily dictates, whom one should not marry. 
Alliance Descent 
Follows Marriage Follows Ancestry 
Dictates whom one should marry Dictates whom one should not marry 
Creates “between-unit” relations Maintains “within-unit” relations 
Avoids incest Defines the Legacy 
Relations are relative Relations are absolute  
(either one is member or not) 
Helps in Intra-Group Stability Helps in Inter-Group Stability 
Main Proponent –  Main Proponent – Claude Levi-Strauss 
 
However, these theories though intricate and complex in their description and a matter 
of much debate while they were animate, lost their significance and worth as they were 
in reality and in today’s understanding of society, not enough persuasive or credible.  
These theories are obsolete in the present scenario yet their knowledge is necessary for 
the student as it did play an important role in the development of kinship studies in 
anthropology in the past.