Assoc. Prof. Sedlenieks Parcitipates in Scientific Evening on Relationship Between Family and State

In his presentation “200 Years of the End of Family in Europe”, Sedlenieks revealed that since the beginning of the 19th century, various thinkers in the European and American intellectual space have created the belief that kinship structures, especially the family, are inevitably on the verge of extinction. The researcher argued that these theories should themselves be interpreted as a cultural narrative rooted in a certain two-level kinship, as is the case in European and US societies.

The event also featured a guest lecture by Erdmute Alber (University of Bayreuth) on the topic “The African Extended Family – A  European Imagination”. In her presentation, Dr. Alber challenged the widespread assumption that the extended family is the most important institution in Africa and that it was the main category of social organisation in pre-colonial Africa. She argued that the extended family category was introduced by French colonial policy-makers mainly through processes of codification and organisation of local indirect rule. Dr. Alber provided insight into the relationship of kinship ideas to the period and demonstrated their political implications.

The event was organised by the Baltic-German University Liaison Office in cooperation with the Latvian Association of Anthropologists and Rīga Stradiņš University.

Video recording