Care Anthropology / Anthropology of Caring

Welcome to Week 2 of Transforming Lives through Care  at La Trobe University. Last week, you completed a brief introduction to  anthropology  and to  care  and we focused on two anthropological concepts:  society  and  culture . Now we are going to another classic anthropological concept-- kinship --in order to understand care. The contention is that the family is structured and it provides the most basic structure for providing of care in human societies.  🎯 Learning Goals By the end of this week, you should be able to: explain the idea of  kinship use the concept of   kinship  to analyse caring practices  critique the idea of  kinship 🚦  Introduction: Kinship Kinship  is the study of families in different cultures—who counts as family, the roles family members play, and how these relationships are formed and understood. In every culture I know of, caring is a crucial part of family life. This week, we an...

2. Worksheet Caring for Children Many people around the world receive care from their family. But the patterns of care differ according to a culture's kinship structure.   In this activity, w e will: introduce how  anthropologists  approach the questions of kinship and care consider the Musuo--the so called 'Women's Kingdom" in China Introduction It seems 'natural' that biological parents should look after children. But anthropologists think that's this 'natural' is actually  cultural . Humans  are  socialised  to feel that our culture’s  kinship  patterns are normal. If  kin  didn't seem natural to us, it wouldn't work. But as an anthropologist, you need to progress past that feeling. So the purpose of this week’s exercises is to de-naturalise your understanding of  family . Once you have done that, you will be ready to analyse how  kinship  and  care  are inter-related from a  re...

Care from mother's brother in other cultures In a previous worksheet, we considered how your mother's brother is responsible for your care among the Musuo of China. It is not just among the Musuo. In many cultures, your mother's brother, not your father, is responsible for providing affectionate care for you. In other societies he is the stern disciplinarian. Why is it one or the other? Anthropologist Levi-Strauss thought he had the answer. The following diagram explains: Generation Observe that:  the husband - wife - brother all belong to one generation (highlighted in green) the son (nephew) belongs to another generation (highlighted in blue) Notice how, among the Trobriand Islanders: within one generation, one relationship is + and one is  - between the generations, one relationship is - and one is + The same applies fo...

  Assessment: Kinship Mapping in Action This week, you'll apply what you've learned by adding key relationships to your kinship diagram. These additions will help you see how different cultures emphasise different family roles—especially the maternal uncle, or  avuncular  figure. 1. Indicate one  affinal  relationship--this is an 'in-law relationship.       ➤ Use a dotted line between two people who are related by marriage (e.g. your parent and their spouse; your mother and her father-in-law). 2. Indicate one consanguineal relationship--this is a blood tie.      ➤ Use a squiggly or wavy line to show a blood tie (e.g. you and your sibling, or your parent and grandparent). 3. Find and label the avuncular relationship--this is the mother's brother.   ➤: Do you have an uncle on your mother’s side? If so, draw an arrow pointing to him. If not, choose the closest maternal relativ...

 Welcome to Week 3 of Transforming Lives through Care.  Last week, we saw how care can be analysed in terms of the kinship. Now we are going to another classic anthropological concept--The Gift--in order to understand care. Now we are going to look at communication as care.  Say "hello" to your mum from me. Why is passing on a "hello" important for some people? Arnold thinks that communication is not just about passing along information. Actually, it can be a gift and a form of care. 🎯 Learning Goals You should be able to: analyse gift-giving practices using the concepts of the Gift  and reciprocity 🚦  Introduction The gift  a crucial concept in anthropology. When we get a present from someone we feel (if we are social people) at least a tiny obligation to give something back. This means that an object, say flowers or a card, is actually a form of currency for social relations. The idea here is that much of the care that humans provide for each other take...

Why Gifts Matter Part of being social in your culture means participating in a  gift economy . But most of the time we’re hardly aware of it. We just do it: we give, receive, and reciprocate—following along with often invisible rules. But these rules matter. They shape who we care for, and who cares for us. They reveal hidden hierarchies, expectations, and affections.  In this worksheet, you’ll observe how gifts move through your kin network and what that tells us about your own  social world . As we explore care in this subject, this understanding will become central. Gifts for the Dead Gift-giving isn’t just for the living. Who are the recipients in the following examples? Laying flowers at a grave site Saying a toast to deceased friends or family Water and tequila on a Día de los Muertos altar Wearing poppies on Anzac Day  What do the dead  receive  in these moments? Can we analyse these acts as gifts? Why or why not?  Saludos & Remitt...

Seminar Activities  Reciprocity: Saludos and Remittances When someone migrates for work, they often stay connected to their family not just through phone calls—but through money. Arnold shows us that in many Salvadoran families,  remittances and warm greetings go hand in hand . If the money stops, the messages stop too. Is this cold? Not necessarily. It might just be another way of keeping love going across distance— through mutual responsibility . t he Portillo family recorded saludos to several mi- grant siblings. The son who had stopped sending remittances was not included in the list of those being greeted (p. 143) In this way,  money doesn’t cancel love—it makes it possible . Without remittances, the migrant is no longer part of the family circuit of care. The relationship frays. It’s tempting to say that if love is real, it shouldn’t depend on money. But Arnold helps us see it differently: in these families,  emotional connection is expressed through acts of gi...

 Welcome to Week 4 of Transforming Lives through Care. This is part of a course in the Anthropology of Care at La Trobe University. In previous weeks, we analysed care through the lens of: kinship (Week 2) the Gift (Week 3) You might have noticed in this discussion that pets came up as members of families and recipients of gifts. This is a topic we delve further into this week.   🎯 Learning Goals By the end of this week, you should be able to: Analyse how care for animals expresses broader social, gendered, and spiritual dynamics Reflect on how ritual, emotion, and power are entwined in human-animal relations Compare the Melanesian "pig complex" with pet care in Australia and other industrialised societies Begin to de-centre Western ideas of “animal care” by engaging with ethnographic evidence 🚦  Introduction Care for 'animals' is a crucial part of many cultures. This week we ask: What does it mean to love and care for an animal? How is that love shaped by gender ro...

Week 5 – Interactive Activities 1. More-than-Human Care & Sacrifice Theme: Love, obligation, and loss across species boundaries Learning Goals Understand how care operates across species boundaries Analyse how emotional bonds coexist with sacrifice Reflect on non-verbal communication, kinship, and personhood in more-than-human relationships Pigs as Kin in Vanuatu Based on Margaret Jolly, "Pig Love" In Vanuatu, pigs are not just livestock. They are kin, often named and lovingly raised. They are fed, talked to, and treated as persons: " In some places a woman's relation to her pigs becomes frankly maternal as in the reported instances of lactating women suckling [breastfeeding] piglets."   These pigs often die in rituals marking births, marriages, or deaths. So a lthough raised with care and affection, they are eventually sacrificed. Jolly shows this is not a contradiction, but an example of reciprocal obligation. “...

Welcome to Week 5 of Transforming Lives through Care. This is part of a course in the Anthropology of Care at La Trobe University. 🎯 Learning Goals Understand how care is lived and experienced through the body. Explore the anthropological concept of embodiment as a way of analysing care. Recognise how routine bodily practices—rather than abstract feelings—can express deep commitments to others. 🚦 Introduction: Embodiment Caring is always embodied. When I cuddle a crying baby, two bodies are involved. This may seem obvious, but what happens when we take that fact seriously? What if, instead of starting with the idea that “I think therefore I am,” we begin with “I have a body that is in space, moved and moved by others”? From this perspective, consciousness, identity, and care emerge not just in thought, but through physical being: suckling, holding, wiping, cleaning, feeding. This is the starting point for anthropological theories of embodiment. Rather than treating the body as an obj...

 Welcome to Week 6 of Transforming Lives through Care. This is part of a course in the Anthropology of Care at La Trobe University. We see in this subject how care work is often feminised. What happens when men become involved in care work? How does it impact their the sense of being masculine? How does it impact the care that they give? 🎯 Learning Goals Understand how gender shapes expectations and experiences of care work. Examine how men navigate masculinity when engaged in caregiving roles. Reflect on how intimate acts of care may challenge or transform traditional gender norms. 🚦  Introduction The concept of " gender " in anthropology refers to the culturally and socially constructed roles, behaviours, and expectations assigned to individuals based on perceived sex, and is distinct from biological determinism; it helps anthropologists understand how identities, power relations, and care practices are shaped differently across societies. In this subject, we’ve seen how ...