Book contents
- Representing Relationships
- Representing Relationships
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Reviews
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Modes of Minding Social Action: Bodily Indices of Unity, Dimensional Icons of Rank, Concrete Matching Operations of Equality, Arbitrary Symbols of Proportions
- Chapter 1 Meaning to Relate
- Chapter 2 The Moosé of Burkina Faso, in One Village, 1980–1982
- Chapter 3 The Modalities of the Four Conformation System
- Part II Consubstantial Assimilation: The Conformation System of Communal Sharing
- Part III Iconic Dimensions and Magnitudes: The Conformation System of Authority Ranking
- Part IV Concrete Operations of One-to-One Correspondence for Equality Matching, Arbitrary Symbolism for Market Pricing, Combinations of Conformations, and What Children Discover
- References
- Index
Chapter 1 - Meaning to Relate
from Part I - Modes of Minding Social Action: Bodily Indices of Unity, Dimensional Icons of Rank, Concrete Matching Operations of Equality, Arbitrary Symbols of Proportions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 November 2025
Book contents
- Representing Relationships
- Representing Relationships
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Reviews
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Modes of Minding Social Action: Bodily Indices of Unity, Dimensional Icons of Rank, Concrete Matching Operations of Equality, Arbitrary Symbols of Proportions
- Chapter 1 Meaning to Relate
- Chapter 2 The Moosé of Burkina Faso, in One Village, 1980–1982
- Chapter 3 The Modalities of the Four Conformation System
- Part II Consubstantial Assimilation: The Conformation System of Communal Sharing
- Part III Iconic Dimensions and Magnitudes: The Conformation System of Authority Ranking
- Part IV Concrete Operations of One-to-One Correspondence for Equality Matching, Arbitrary Symbolism for Market Pricing, Combinations of Conformations, and What Children Discover
- References
- Index
Summary
There four fundamental relational models: communal sharing, authority ranking, equality matching, and market pricing. Each of them utilizes a distinct conformation system to represent, communicate, coordinate, motivate, and evaluate social relationships of that kind. The conformation systems are indexical equivalence of bodies, iconic dimensions of rank, concrete operations of one-to-one matching, and purely conventional symbolism of proportions. The chapter also introduces complementarity theory, which posits innate structures that can function only in conjunction with cultural complements. It concludes by saying that the book is intended to be an antitheses to symbolic anthropology.
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- Representing RelationshipsModes of Cognition and Connection, pp. 3 - 37Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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