Structural endogamy and the network “graphe de parenté”

White, Douglas R.

Mathématiques informatique et sciences humaines, Tome 137 (1997), pp. 101-125.

Cet article, qui fait partie d'une série, aborde les thèmes du mariage et de la parenté sous un angle cinétique et structural qui déplace le centre d'intérêt, du point de vue initial, fait de modèles de règles, de terminologies, d'attitudes et de normes, vers l'exploration de relations concrètes dans une population, que l'on analyse dans toute leur complexité, comme des réseaux, au moyen de la théorie des graphes. Une représentation utilisant le graphe de parenté sert de base pour étudier la théorie des alliances matrimoniales, la structure de la population (endogamie et exogamie, consanguinité, sous-groupes), aussi bien que d'autres concepts sociologiques incluant des formations sociales telles que les classes, les strates, les ethnies et les élites (Schweizer et White, 1997). Ce type d'approche structurale potentiellement multifacettes recouvre les études de structures et de processus concernant les pratiques actuelles en matière de mariage et de parenté et d'autres catégories de lien social qui ne leur étaient pas initialement reliées. L'identification des structures et des processus qui apparaissent dans ces réseaux est renforcée par l'application des attributs et des variables dynamiques sur l'armature constituée par le graphe de parenté. Toutes les questions théoriques concernant le mariage et la parenté peuvent être posées ou reformulées de manière à interroger la structure du réseau de parenté et prendre appui sur ce type d'analyse pour une exploration critique approfondie. L'objet de cette discussion concerne précisément les liens entre l'analyse en termes de graphe et différentes questions théoriques concernant les réseaux de parenté et de mariage.

This article, one of a series, approaches the topics of marriage and kinship through a revitalized kinetic structural approach that shifts the primary focus from abstract models of rules, terminologies, attitudes and norms to exploration of concrete relations in a population, analyzed graph-theoretically in their full complexity as networks. Network representation using the graphe de parenté (see below) serves as the basis for examining marriage alliance theory, population structure (such as endogamy and exogamy, inbreeding, subgroups), as well as other possible concepts of general sociological interest, including social formations such as classes, strata, ethnicity, and elites (Schweizer and White 1997). This type of potentially multi-layered structural approach extends to the study of structures and processes of actual marriage and kinship practices and other forms of social linkage that build off of them. Identification of structure and processes which occur in such networks is enhanced by mapping attributes or dynamic variables onto the armature of the kinship graph. Any number of theoretical questions concerning kinship and marriage may be posed or restated to address questions of the structure of kinship networks, and thus depend upon such analysis for deeper critical insights. The focus in this discussion is specifically on the connections between graph-theoretic analysis and various substantive theoretical questions concerning kinship and marriage networks.

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