A different kind of family : the domestic environment on the Boa Vista Island, Cape Verde

Abstract

ABSTRACT

This article discusses family organization on the Island of Boa Vista, in Cape Verde, within a context of female emigration. The category of disorganization used by the social Cape Verdeans themselves is revisited so as to make the concept of family relative by using the concepts of “scattered families” and “distant proximity.” The analysis shows that the feeling of belonging or breach in family relations depends upon a balance in the maintenance of the numerous principles of social filiation which keep people united. Important concepts such as consanguinity, filiation, conjugality, kinship and others are analyzed in the light of ethnographic data presented.