The Politics of Kinship/the Family

The complex nature of the politics of kinship makes its navigation contentious and challenging. As such, the topic is often approached by thinking of how familial ties are exploited to legitimize and sustain social order. Nonetheless, one can tackle the topic from different angles. One’s comprehension of families in modern American society can only be as comprehensive as one’s understanding of the symbolic representation of the family or kinship system to Americans. The politics of family and kinship systems involves an intertwining of the issues of sexuality, gender, and colonialism. Therefore, the analysis of the politics of kinship or the family will highlight various issues of sexuality, gender, and colonialism, such as the ideology of nurturance, gender roles, normalization of heterosexuality, and the negative impact of colonization on kinship.