Kinship and commoditization: Historical transformations.

This paper reviews a number of themes pertinent to comparative studies in k inship, personhood, and marriage practices, based on cases drawn from the e thnography of New Guinea and Eastern Indonesia. The case of "slavery" is ta ken initially as a test for ideas about personhood and exchange, since slav ery may be taken to represent the transformation of a person into a commodi ty. However, examination of the data suggests that this interpretation is t oo simple. Person for person exchanges in restricted (elementary) forms of marriage are next considered, along with ways in which such systems change with the introduction of new commodities and the entry of these into bridew ealth payments. Finally, we consider contemporary commoditizations of socia l relations in general in highlands Papua New Guinea and discuss how these changes have impacted kinship ties, including processes of affiliation of c hildren to kin groups.