The Elementary Structures of the Patriarchy

Feminist Critiques of Alliance Theory

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22199/issn.0718-1043-2023-0029

Keywords:

kinship, anthropology, critical feminism, structuralism, male domination

Abstract

This article reviews Lévi-Strauss’s Alliance Theory based on the feminist critiques of the seventies and current archaeological findings. Its central hypothesis argues that the theory should be understood as a historical product tied to a specific form of masculine domination that became hegemonic in terms of scientific, colonial, and Eurocentric discourse from the nineteenth century onwards. To introduce these arguments, the second section of the article offers a brief glossary of terms on kinship. The third section offers some interpretative reservations to consider when rereading the classics of this anthropological subfield. The fourth explores the analytical assumptions and central hypotheses of Lévi-Straussian theorizing on kinship, and the fifth section synthesizes the current archaeological findings on Paleolithic human groups, an exercise through which we deconstruct several of Lévi-Strauss’s maxims. Finally, the last section concludes by proposing a rereading of Lévi-Straussian theory and discussing the definition of patriarchy in terms of hegemony.

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Author Biography

  • Menara Guizardi, Universidad de Tarapacá.

    Cientista social por la Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (Brasil). Es magíster en Estudio Latinoamericanos y doctora en Antropología Social por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (España). Es investigadora externa de la Universidad de Tarapacá (Chile) e investigadora adjunta del Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas en la Escuela Interdisciplinaria de Altos Estudios Sociales/ Universidad Nacional de San Martin (Argentina).

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Published

2024-01-17

Issue

Section

Antropologia

How to Cite

Guizardi, M. (2024). The Elementary Structures of the Patriarchy: Feminist Critiques of Alliance Theory. Estudios atacameños, 69, e5585. https://doi.org/10.22199/issn.0718-1043-2023-0029