Law and the Unexpected: Relatives are Always a Surprise

241 Pages·2005·1.98 MB·English

by  Marilyn Strathern

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kinship,lawandtheunexpected
How can we hold in the same view both cultural or historical constructs and
generalities about social existence? In response to this anthropological conun-
drum,Kinship,LawandtheUnexpectedtakesupanissueattheheartofstudiesof
society–thewayweuserelationshipstouncoverrelationships.Relationalityis
aphenomenonatoncecontingent(oncertainwaysofknowing)andubiquitous
(tosociallife).
Theroleofrelationsinwestern(Euro-American)knowledgepractices,from
thescientificrevolutiononward,raisesaquestionabouttheextenttowhichEuro-
Americankinshipisthekinshipofaknowledge-basedsociety.Theargumenttakes
thereaderthroughcurrentissuesinbiotechnology,newfamilyformationsand
legalinterventions,andintellectualpropertydebates,tomattersofpersonhood
andownershipaffordedbymaterialfromMelanesiaandelsewhere.Ifweareoften
surprisedbywhatourrelativesdo,wemayalsobesurprisedbywhatrelationstell
usabouttheworldwelivein.
Marilyn Strathern is William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology at the
University of Cambridge and Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge. She has
carriedoutfieldworkoverseveralyearsintheHighlandsofPapuaNewGuinea
(Melanesia).SheistheauthorofTheGenderoftheGift,AfterNatureandProperty,
SubstanceandEffect.
i
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ii
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Kinship, Law and the Unexpected
Relatives Are Always a Surprise
marilyn strathern
UniversityofCambridge
iii
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521849920
© Marilyn Strathern 2005
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format
ISBN-13 978-0-511-34514-2 eBook (NetLibrary)
ISBN-10 0-511-34514-3 eBook (NetLibrary)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-84992-0 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-84992-6 hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-61509-9 paperback
ISBN-10 0-521-61509-7 paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
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guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
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Contents
Preface pagevii
partone. dividedorigins
Introduction:DividedOrigins 3
TheChild’sTwoBodies 4
ATool 6
DividedOrigins 9
1 RelativesAreAlwaysaSurprise:BiotechnologyinanAge
ofIndividualism 15
AnAgeofIndividualism 15
AddingDebate 17
IndividualandCommonInterests 20
RecombinantFamilies 22
ThinkingAboutRelatives 25
2 EmbeddedScience 33
IsolatedKnowledge 35
RelationsEverywhere 37
KinshipUncovered 43
Caveat 46
3 EmergentProperties 50
I 51
MultipleOrigins 51
AnAnalogy 55
II 58
OffspringintoProperty 58
InformationintoKnowledge 61
RelationsintoRelations 64
III 67
KinshipandKnowledge 67
TheInformationalFamily 71
v
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vi CONTENTS
parttwo. thearithmeticofownership
Introduction:TheArithmeticofOwnership 81
ConceptionbyIntent 82
Leaving‘Knowledge’toOneSide 83
TheArithmeticofOwnership 87
4 ThePatentandtheMalanggan 92
IntroducingtheBody 92
Enchantment 94
ReturntoNewIreland–1 96
PatentingTechnology 99
ReturntoNewIreland–2 104
5 Losing(outon)IntellectualResources 111
I 111
TheTermsofanAgreement 112
TraditionandModernity 114
II 116
BodyOwnership 118
WholePersons:Things 120
PartPersons:Agents 125
III 129
Decontextualisation 130
IntellectualResources 133
6 DividedOriginsandtheArithmeticofOwnership 135
I 135
II 138
CountingPeople:Murik 138
AnalogousWorlds 140
CountingAncestors:Omie 142
OwnersandMakers 144
PropagatingImages 147
III 149
IntellectualProducts? 149
OwnershipofPersons? 151
SingleandMultipleOrigins 155
AppliedMaths 157
IV 160
Notes 163
References 201
AuthorIndex 217
SubjectIndex 220
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Preface
Anthropologists use relationships to uncover relationships. The device is at
theheartofsocialanthropology,andanthropologistsalsofinditattheheartof
kinship.Thisbookwouldnothavebeenpossiblebutforthewaveofanthropo-
logicalwritingthathasgoneunderthenameof‘thenewkinship’(studies),al-
thoughitdoesnotfallintothegenre.Iwishtoaddafootnoteabouttherolethat
appealstorelationalityplayinanthropologicalstudiesofsociallifeandsuggest
whyweshouldbeinterestedinit.Appealsaremadetoaphenomenonatonce
contingent(oncertainwaysofknowing)andubiquitous(tohumansociety).
Oneoftheenduringmethodologicalconundrumsofanthropologyishow
to hold in the same view what are clearly cultural and historical constructs
and what are equally clearly generalities about social existence. The trick is
to specify each without diminishing the other. If this is an attempt, by its
very nature the present work must be incomplete precisely because of the
specificcircumstancesthathavesuggestedkinshipasanintriguingfieldfor
investigationhere.Thefieldalreadylimits(‘constructs’)theexercise.
Thespecificcircumstancesareepitomisedinthenewkinship.Studiesunder
thisrubricfocusonthereflexivenatureofanalyticalconstructs,andveryoften
onpeople’sdealingswithoneanotherundernewtechnologicalregimes,with
thestimulustoindigenousreflexivitythatbrings;peoplecometomakenew
kindsofconnectionsbetweentheirlivesandtheworldtheylivein.Muchofthe
substanceofwhatfollowswouldbefamiliartosuchconcerns,especiallyinthe
firstpart.PartItouchesoncontextsinwhichthenewmedicaltechnologies
have posed questions for families and relatives. These contexts become, in
PartII,afoilforcomparativeanalysis.Theessaysthusmovefrommaterials
lodgedlargelyintheUnitedStatesandtheUnitedKingdom,andinthefirst
chapterwhiteAustralia,tocreatingthegroundsfortalkingaboutMelanesia,
Amazoniaand(briefly)AboriginalAustralia.Theydescribetheconsequences
ofrelationality,bothinthedataandintheorganisationofit;severalofthe
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viii PREFACE
essaysareillustrativeinthissense,deployingthetermnodifferentlyfromits
useinmuchanthropologicalwriting.
Indeed, relationality – as an abstract value placed on relationships – is
highlightedinarecognisableandconventionalmannerthroughattentionto
thelaw.Runningthroughtheseessaysisacommentaryonthewaymodernist
legalthinkingatonceopensupandclosesdownpredispositionstothinkin
terms of relations. Part I introduces Euro-American law on its own home
territory,sotospeak,inbothcreativeandregulativemode,whereasPartII
shows legal categories being introduced in situations otherwise foreign to
them, in some cases in the name of governance, in others as an analytical
deviceonthepartoftheobserver.Eitherway,oneshouldnotoverlookthe
imagination and ingenuity of lawyers in dealing with new issues. Concepts
developedinthenameofintellectualpropertyofferarichseamformining
hereandareintheforegroundorbackgroundofseveralchapters.‘Thelaw’
is thus depicted in different guises, whether contributing to the conceptual
resourcesthroughwhichpeopleapproachproblemsentailingownershipor
rights,orinterveningindisputes,crystallisingcertainculturalmomentsfor
thesakeofadvocacy,andsoforth.
Thereisaparticularpurchasetobringinginlegalthinking.Itisadiscipline
and a practice that has to deal with different kinds of relationships. After
all, in European mythology, the law is the classic locus for situations where
categoricalandinterpersonalrelationsconfronteachother,as–inherlectures
ofthename–JudithButler(2000)remindsuswastrueofAntigone’sclaim.
Ajudicationsinthecourts,pleasonthegroundsofhumanrights:thelawdeals
withpersonsinrelationtocategories.Weshallseethesignificanceofthis.
Theessaysareintendedtoconveytheembeddednessofrelationalthinking
inthewayEuro-Americanscometoknowworld,andthedescriptionsofsocial
lifethisembeddednesshasmade–andcontinuestomake–possible.Itoffers
ustruthsofaveryspecialkind.Inturn,suchrelationalthinkingissuccessfulto
theextentthatitcapitalisesonacommoncapacityorfacilityinthemakingof
relationsthatexistinotherregistersaltogether.Fromherecomestheattempt
toholdinthesameviewwhatareclearlyculturalandhistoricalconstructsand
whatareequallyclearlygeneralitiesaboutsocialexistence.TheIntroductions
tothetwoparts,DividedOriginsandTheArithmeticofOwnership,spellthis
out.
debts
Separateacknowledgementsarerecordedattheendofeachchapter,aseach
originatedataparticulareventorforanoccasion.(Tothisextent,theymaybe