Kinship in Neckarhausen 1700-1870

This book analyzes shifts in the relations of families households and individuals in a single German village during the transition to a modern social structure and cultural order. The findings call into question the idea that the more modern society became the less kin mattered. Rather the opposite happened. During modernization close kin developed a flexible set of exchanges passing marriage partners godparents political favors work contacts and financial guarantees back and forth. These new kinship systems were fundamental for class formation. The author also repositions women in the center of the political culture of alliances.