The Elementary Structures of Kinship

The Elementary Structures of Kinship is a book by anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss that explores how human societies organize family relationships and social ties. It analyzes universal patterns in kinship systems, such as marriage rules, kin categories, and inheritance, showing how they reflect underlying structures of thought. Lévi-Strauss emphasizes that these patterns are shared across cultures and reveal the deep, often unconscious ways humans comprehend social bonds and classify relationships. Essentially, the book examines the mental frameworks that shape how societies define kinship and social connections globally.