Ancestors and Relatives: Genealogy, Identity, and Community

239 Pages·2011·1.9 MB·English

by  Eviatar Zerubavel

ANCESTORS AND RELATIVES
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ANCESTORS AND
RELATIVES
Genealogy, Identity, and Community
Eviatar Zerubavel
1
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Copyright © 2012 by Eviatar Zerubavel
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zerubavel, Eviatar.
Ancestors and relatives : genealogy, identity, and community / Eviatar Zerubavel.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-977395-4 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Genealogy—Social aspects.
2. Genealogy—Psychological aspects. 3. Genealogy—Political aspects.
4. Families. 5. Kinship. 6. Heredity. I. Title.
CS14.Z47 2011
929′.1—dc22 2011005663
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To Yael, Noga, and Noam—
the relatives I have actually chosen
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A ttai begot Nathan, and Nathan begot Zabad; and Zabad
begot Ephlal, and Ephlal begot Obed; and Obed begot Jehu,
and Jehu begot Azariah; and Azariah begot Helez, and Helez
begot Eleasah; and Eleasah begot Sisamai, and Sisamai begot
Shallum; and Shallum begot Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begot
Elishama.
—I Chronicles 2:36–41
All living creatures are cousins.
—Richard Dawkins, Th e Ancestor’s Tale , 13
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CONTENTS
Preface xi
1. Th e Genealogical Imagination 3
2. Ancestry and Descent 15
Lineage 16
Pedigree 23
Origins 26
3. Co-Descent 31
Kinship 31
Community and Identity 46
4. Nature and Culture 53
Blood 53
Nature or Culture? 59
Th e Rules of Genealogical Lineation 65
Th e Rules of Genealogical Delineation 71
5. Th e Politics of Descent 77
Stretching 78