大学共同利用機関法人 人間文化研究機構　国立民族学博物館

Objectives

The goals of this research are to reassess anthropological research on the family so as to make the research more responsive to contemporary problems. We can name a variety of issues appearing in the world today, including those related to reproductive medicine, international adoptions, international marriages, transnational families, care for the aged, and changes in the family due to development and modernization. Therefore, we wish to break new ground in family studies by constantly asking ourselves what are the root questions concerning parent-child relations and families. We are intent on addressing issues such as these, which at first glance might seem disparate, from the standpoint of the family. Our desire for this is not to sever the accumulation of anthropological research on the family and kinship, but rather to study post-Schneider family research, particularly considering the research of scholars such as Strathern and Carsten.

Considering the doubts voiced concerning the validity of the analytical concept of the family itself, we plan to study its limitations, as well as concepts to substitute for family/kinship, for example by debating the validity of the concept of relatedness, so as to be able to construct innovative paradigms for family studies.