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Dōzoku and the Ideology of Descent in Rural Japan 1
Author(s) -
BROWN KEITH
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1966.68.5.02a00020
Subject(s) - descent (aeronautics) , ideology , genealogy , order (exchange) , sociology , history , geography , politics , political science , law , economics , finance , meteorology
This paper examines the ideology of descent as it obtains in the membership recruitment of dōzoku groups in one Japanese hamlet. While the genealogies of the dōzoku show a heavy preponderance of agnatic links, the ideology of the people with respect to descent is cognatic. The conclusion is drawn that there can be independent variation between the phenomenal order of a society and the ideational order of its people. With respect to descent in Japan this means that phenomenally the genealogies of dōzoku groups can exhibit a high proportion of either patrilineal or matrilineal links, depending on varying historical and environmental settings, while the ideology for cognatic descent remains constant. This is possible because descent is not the only criterion for dōzoku membership recruitment.