Essa tese tem como ponto de partida e referência a tessitura de uma rede de relações genealógicas e matrimoniais entre os Manoki (e os Mky), falantes de uma língua isolada distribuída em duas variantes dialetais (Irantxe e Mky). Esses coletivos reconhecem um passado comum e habitam atualmente duas Terras Indígenas distintas situadas no vale do rio Juruena, formador do Tapajós, na região noroeste do estado de Mato Grosso. A população manoki é atualmente estimada em 373 pessoas distribuídas em sete aldeias na Terra Indígena Irantxe, localizada em uma área predominantemente de cerrado, na margem esquerda do rio Cravari. Os 129 indivíduos mky vivem em uma única aldeia na Terra Indígena Menkü, região de transição de mata e cerrado circunscrita pelos rios Papagaio e do Sangue. O parentesco é aqui considerado um idioma privilegiado para compreender quem são essas populações, como pensam sua história e as maneiras como modulam suas relações com as diferentes figuras da alteridade, que vão desde as relações internas a este conjunto linguístico, passando pelas relações com os brancos e outros povos ameríndios vizinhos, até chegar ao vasto número de seres dotados de agência, que chamam de espíritos, bichos e assombrações. / This thesis has as a starting point and reference the fabric of a kinship and marriage network among the Manoki (and the Mky), speakers of an isolated language distributed in two dialects (Irantxe and Mky). These Amerindian peoples acknowledges a common past and inhabit nowadays two distinct Indigenous Lands located in the valley of the Juruena river, a tributary of the Tapajós, in the northwestern region of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Nowadays the Manoki population is estimated over 373 people distributed in seven different villages in the Indigenous Land Irantxe, situated in a predominantly savannah area on the left bank of the Cravari river. The 129 mky individuals live in a single village in the Indigenous Land Menkü, located in an area of transition between forest and savannah circumscribed by the rivers Papagaio and Sangue. Kinship relations are here considered as a privileged idiom to understand who these peoples are, how they think their own history and the ways they modulate their relations with different figures of alterity, ranging from internal relations between the speakers of these dialects, passing through the relations with whites and other Amerindian neighboring peoples and reaching a vast number of beings endowed with agency capabilities, which they call spirits, beasts and spectrums.

This dissertation examines the history of land inequality. Historians have long assumed that unequal distribution of land in Zimbabwe was a consequence of colonial rule. I show that unequal distribution of land long predated colonialism, and that the interaction between pre-existing and new forms of inequality fundamentally shaped the colonial experience. I begin with basic perspectives from environmental and agrarian history, I emphasize that access to land has determined whether Africans will be able to obtain subsistence, but that productive land is always a relatively scarce resource. I look very closely at the differences in soil productivity within particular landscapes, micro-environments and even individual tracts. Such differences in soil quality and the resulting scarcity of the most productive lands, I argue, provoked competition for land long before shortages caused by colonial land policies. I situate this competition within the intimate social settings of households, kinships and, after the imposition of British rule in 1890, farms and mission stations. In them, I find political and social dynamics which, together with colonial rule, created inequality among Africans and contributed to unequal access to land. They include gender, kinship, status and generation. Through an analysis of stories of precolonial migration and settlement, I examine claims to political and ritual control over territory made by chiefs, spirit mediums and `first-comers'. Colonial land alienation deepened this competition, while the contingencies of colonial administration often forced officials to relate to European settlers in ways that opened opportunities for Africans to contest their subordinated access to land.

Over the last four decades, farming families throughout North America experienced significant transitions due, in part, to the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. This multi-sited dissertation investigates the ways in which a network of binational (Mexican-American) families organize their small- to mid-scale farming enterprises, engage in global networks as food producers, and contribute to rural economies in the southeastern U.S. and the Mexican Bajío. To mitigate difficult transitions that came with the globalizing of agri-food markets, members of this extended family group created collaborative, kin-based arrangements to produce, distribute, and market fresh-market fruits and vegetables in the foothills of southern Appalachia and basic grains in the foothills of the Mexican Bajío. Members of extended binational families regularly negotiate social, economic, and political borders within and across regions, genders, and generations. This study shows how these binational kin use cooperative practices to navigate two distinct, yet interrelated, contemporary agricultural political economic environments in North America. The study counter-constructs stereotypes of Latinx and their roles in southeastern U.S. agriculture by focusing on a vertically integrated, kin group of allied, migrant farming families and theorizing them as binational collective strategists. Their stories and strategies provide insight into the importance of temporalities and practices of kin relatedness to agri-food enterprises and suggest possibilities for alternative distributions of surplus value within the globalized agri-food system.

This research addressed the social and emotional challenges kinship adoptive families have encountered when their adopted child's trauma symptomology surfaces. The unique relationship between the adoptive relative and the kinship child offered a different view on the coping techniques used by kinship families and uncovered areas where resources could support permanency. In this phenomenological study, 12 interviews with relative adoptive parents guided by the attachment and family system theories, offered insight to what fosters or degrades the bond with the adopted child. Using post-adoption resource events, service agencies, and community resources, this study recruited participants through flyers posted on websites, agency waiting areas, public bulletin boards, and email distribution. The self-selected respondents learned more about the study to decide if they would participate. The data reached saturation after 12 interviews and the transcribed accounts were reviewed with each corresponding participant. Using NVivo 11 to organize the data,, the transcribed interviews were compared to discover themes inherent to the adoptive relative parent(s). Learning about kinship challenges after adopting a child exposed to maltreatment, neglect, or pre-adoptive trauma and the methods used by these families to overcome thoughts of dissolution or their discovery of areas that would benefit from supportive resources may contribute to the understanding of successful kinship adoption. The implication for social change is the decrease in dissolution rates of the adoptive relationship, thereby creating permanency outcomes in the lives of the children and creating a system of care that is proactive to societal needs and influential in providing for future generations.

Over the past twenty years, the number of grandparents raising grandchildren has increased substantially. In many cases, raising grandchildren can be stressful and may aggravate pre-existing health conditions. Grandchildren in these kinship relationships often experience poor health outcomes as well. Typically, both grandparents and grandchildren do not engage in positive health behaviors. Thus, there is a need to develop intergenerational health promotion interventions for grandparents raising grandchildren. This study used the community-based participatory research approach to develop and implement an eight-week intergenerational program for kinship families. The specific goals of this descriptive study were to understand the process and feasibility of developing and implementing the intervention from the perspective of key stakeholders. Content analysis of observational, focus group, and interview data from grandparents, nurses, exercise consultants, and recreation staff provided an in-depth account of the intervention's process (i.e., recruitment, dose delivered, dose received, fidelity, and context) and feasibility (i.e., acceptability, demand, practicality, and integration). Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine if the intervention had an effect on participants' health outcomes (i.e., depression, blood pressure, waist circumference, heart rate, weight, balance, and BMI) over time. Although analyses did not result in statistically significant effects on health outcomes, the data trends indicated the possibility of health improvements given a larger sample size. The distinct details gleaned from this study can provide researchers, community organizations, and practitioners with guidance on how to use community partnerships and existing strengths to develop and implement effective community-based intergenerational interventions.

This thesis explores how nineteenth century Métis concepts of family and community have found expression in post 1930s urban development, governance and political activism. In this study, genealogical methods and participant interviews have been used to examine the social, economic and political role of women in 19th century Métis families and communities in order to determine the extent to which these traditional roles were carried forward into an urban context prior to World War II. Based on this research, it was concluded that female kinship relationships were central in structuring and determining the bounds of this Métis community despite economic changes, community movement, physical relocation and political upheaval in both traditional and contemporary contexts. By organizing in ways that were familiar and consistent with past practices, urban Métis women in the early twentieth century had the opportunity and flexibility to informally politicize community issues and recruit organization participants. Over time, the political role played by women evolved and they began to take leading roles in the day-to- day operation of programs and services. By the 1960s-70s, urban Métis women began to formally assert their political will and move from behind the scenes into a more public leadership roles. Throughout this evolution, concepts of family, kinship and tradition remained the core organization concept for this community. Through the expression of these 19th century traditions, Métis women have made a significant contribution to post-1930 urban development, governance and political activism.

The perception of pets as ‘family members’ is an important area of research in the study of human-animal relationships. The objective of this thesis is to assess the ways in which pets are integrated into the home, and to explore how pet owners regard their dogs and cats within their constructed circles of kinship and social bonds. This research also examines a sample of attitudes toward some important issues with pet keeping, from what constitutes responsible pet guardianship to modern issues in animal welfare. Thirty-four participants were recruited, and data was collected through individual qualitative interviews. Data analysis shows the level of integration of the pet into the family has some correlations with the gender of the primary pet caretaker, and shows the impact of individual experiences of participants, particularly in childhood, which strongly influenced preferences of pet type, and their view of the role of animals in the home.

This thesis examines whether the interrelationship of family and gay identity in South Korea is best understood as one of conflict, pitting a traditional, national, and filial constraint against a presumed global, progressive, and individualistic freedom, or whether it requires (or perhaps, in the narratives themselves, already provides) a different, more recursive understanding. This thesis explores the recursivity between gay identity and filial piety among college students in contemporary Korea while also providing a critique of a global gay paradigm that others may argue infiltrates Korean gay discourse. The aim of this ethnography is not just to collect the stories that these young South Korean college men tell about their experiences of being gay and a son, but to trace how my position as a researcher and a friend are shaped by my experiences with other gay Korean men and how those positions are intimately tied to this ethnography as a whole.

The aim of this qualitative deep interview study was to gain deeper understanding of single immigrant mothers´life situation. Grounded Theory was the method of analysis. Repeated interviews with five immigrant women from different parts of the world showed that women were in need of wider and deeper social networks in order to reconstruct their identities. Social support and social networks benefit, not only reconstruction of identity, but also personal well-being. Yet it is difficult for them to create social networks in the new country, because of single motherhood. Using the idea of "fictive kinship", two alternatives of socioemotional support system were suggested in this study.

The perception of pets as ‘family members’ is an important area of research in the study of human-animal relationships. The objective of this thesis is to assess the ways in which pets are integrated into the home, and to explore how pet owners regard their dogs and cats within their constructed circles of kinship and social bonds. This research also examines a sample of attitudes toward some important issues with pet keeping, from what constitutes responsible pet guardianship to modern issues in animal welfare. Thirty-four participants were recruited, and data was collected through individual qualitative interviews. Data analysis shows the level of integration of the pet into the family has some correlations with the gender of the primary pet caretaker, and shows the impact of individual experiences of participants, particularly in childhood, which strongly influenced preferences of pet type, and their view of the role of animals in the home.