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changing concepts of incest among the Nuer
Author(s) -
HUTCHINSON SHARON
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1985.12.4.02a00020
Subject(s) - exogamy , indigenous , sociology , alliance , population , criminology , geography , anthropology , demography , ecology , archaeology , biology
Diverging from the general tendency among anthropologists to conceptualize the “problem of incest” in ahistorical terms, I examine here some of the historical processes involved in the redefinition of various categories of incest by Nuer over the last half century. In particular, I analyze the dynamic relationship between indigenous discourse about the nature of incest on the one hand, and shifting relations of power among various segments of the population on the other. [incest and exogamy, social change, alliance and descent, Nuer]