- Title
- Procreative and performative kinship among residents in Victorian caravan parks
- Creator
- Newton, Janice
- Date
- 2015
- Type
- Text; Journal article
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/96756
- Identifier
- vital:10155
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.1111/taja.12137
- Identifier
- ISSN:1035-8811
- Abstract
- Recent senior anthropologists have heralded a new era where performative social and cultural kinship may eclipse procreational ‘biological kinship’ in contemporary western society. This article takes research on permanent residents in caravan parks as an extreme case that may act as an exemplar for future western contexts. Between 2003 and 2008, interviews with caravanpark managers, 50 interviews with park residents and short field stays at 17 outer Melbourne and rural Victorian caravan parks, provided multi-sited ethnographic material for analysis. I argue that contemporary contexts for relatedness give scope for creative development of social performative ties with ‘ex’ spouses and in-laws, friends and pets. ‘Biological’ kin and family with a material dimension remain central, however, and a response to family need or rupture is often the broadening of the procreative kin links between grandparent and grandchild and between siblings. Childhood institutionalisation and divorce in particular, contributed to pathways towards caravan park housing. Other kin-based motivations include finding safe accommodation for wives; providing housing for young adult males after injury and family divorce; and arranging for housing succession for children. Ideas of blood and folk biology demonstrate considerable resilience in contemporary kinship arrangements.
- Relation
- TAJA: The Australian Journal of Anthropology Vol. 26, no. 2 (2015), p. 233-254
- Rights
- © 2015 Australian Anthropological Society
- Rights
- Open Access
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
- Subject
- Contemporary kinship; Caravan park residents; Mobile homes; Trailer parks; 1601 Anthropology; 2102 Curatorial and Related Studies; 2103 Historical Studies
- Full Text
- Reviewed
- Hits: 1441
- Visitors: 1571
- Downloads: 283
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Published version | 131 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |