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The comparative constitution of twinship: strategies and paradoxes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

EA Stewart
EA Stewart*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, London School of Economics, [email protected]
*
*Correspondence: Dr EA Stewart, Department of Sociology, London School of Economics, Houghton St, London WC2A 2AE, UK

Abstract

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In both traditional and modern societies, twinship, as an unusual mode of reproduction, involves difficulties for social systems in maintaining consistent classification systems. It is proposed that the most prevalent response to twinship involves various ‘strategies of normalisation’ to defuse and contain the potential disruption. This proposition is illustrated and analysed in relation to ethnographic maternal drawn mainly (but not exclusively) from African communities in the twentieth century. Following a discussion of twin infanticide as the most extreme of the normalising strategies, the article concludes by identifying a number of paradoxes in the social construction of twinship. Twin Research (2000) 3, 142–147.

Keywords

twinshipsocial behaviourcross-cultural comparisonskinship modelsethnographicmaterialssocietal strategiesinfanticide
Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , 01 June 2000 , pp. 142 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2000