A share of the harvest: kinship, property, and social history among the Malays of Rembau

Peletz, Michael G.

Book

A share of the harvest: kinship, property, and social history among the Malays of Rembau

University of California Press • Berkeley • Published In 1988 • Pages:

By: Peletz, Michael G..

Abstract
This book is concerned with kinship, property and social history among farmers living in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Rembau district, the book argues that norms and values keyed to matrilineal descent were far less pervasive in pre-colonial property system and social relations than other observers assumed, and that principles and idioms of siblingship were of comparable if not greater significance in myriad domains of society and culture. It also suggest that many of these later domains were simultaneously structured in accordance with other principles (such as patrifiliation, matrilineal descent, and alliance), some of which were inconsistent with the entailments of siblingship- and with one another as well- in that they enjoined mutually incompatible behaviors. The author argues that the co-occurrence and mutual relevance of such potentially contradictory principles helped determine the direction, scope, and cultural realization of social change both throughout the British colonial period and during the independence era. As a consequence, Rembaus land tenure and inheritance system over the past century have involved realignment and reweighting of various elements of the pre-colonial system, rather than the creation ex nihilo of new principles or constructs.

Community structure

Cultural identity and pride