article
Khmer kinship: the matriliny/matriarchy myth
Journal of anthropological research • 51 (3) • Published In 1995 • Pages: 247-261
By: Ledgerwood, Judy.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document argues against early ethnographic claims that Khmer society in the distance past was organized along matrilineal principles. It shows that this claim was the product of evolutionary paradigms that sought to reconstruct the history of Khmer by drawing only on the geneological records of priestly families and lineages of sucessive kings. By shifting the focus of analysis on broadly used kinship terminologies and social relations among ordinary people, the document demonstrates that Khmer kinship system was not matrilineal at all. It was instead a very flexible system that assumed many patterns over the years. In doing so, the documents also deconstructs earlier workers which claimed that women in Khmer society wielded more power than men in decision making.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Historical reconstruction
- Cultural identity and pride
- Rule of descent
- Kin relationships
- Gender status
- Division of labor by gender
- Prophets and ascetics
- Lineages
- Kinship terminology
- Residence
- Family relationships
- Marriage
- Real property
- Inheritance
- Bilineal kin groups
- Kindreds and ramages
- External relations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Cambodians
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2012
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southeast Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2012
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1991
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1950-1995
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Cambodia
- NotesAdditional notes
- Judy L. Ledgerwood
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-261)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 73645054
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Khmers