Kinship at the Core: An Anthropology of Elmdon, a Village in North-west Essex in the Nineteen-Sixties

In the village of Elmdon in north-west Essex, members of certain families are distinguished from other residents as being ‘real Elmdon'. Through a detailed ethnography of the structure of the village, and the interrelationships between its various families, work patterns and community activities, Marilyn Strathern provides an understanding of the characteristics of those who most vehemently claim to be 'real' village people. Yet this account goes far beyond ethnographic description. Its ins...