Sociology / Unit 8 Soc 1289 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Bilateral and Unilateral Descent
Captions available
The idea
Bilateral descent traces kinship through both parents equally; unilateral descent traces it through one parent's line only, whether patrilineal (father's line) or matrilineal (mother's line).
In practice
A U.S. child's surname commonly follows the father's line even though inheritance and kinship are otherwise traced bilaterally.
Where people slip
A society's descent rule and its power structure are related but not identical; a matrilineal society is rarely matriarchal.
Your place on the trail
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Builds on
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