Questions about the respective roles of private and state property have been at the center of European political life for the past century. Much less attention has been given to the ways in which rights to property have been transmitted over time and how different inheritance traditions have affected European societies. The chapters in this volume draw on historical and anthropological research to show how inheritance practices connect the intimate organization of domestic life with questions of economic development, political structure, and religious belief. The book traces the history of inheritance from the coming of Christianity, through the imposition and dissolution of different forms of feudalism, to the development of the modern economy. Several chapters address the impact of communism and its collapse, and demonstrate how ideas about the inheritance of property and status are continuing to shape, and be shaped by, economic and social changes in a continent that is moving beyond the ideological dichotomies of the Cold War.
Hannes Grandits teaches European history at University of Graz, Austria. Patrick Heady teaches anthropology at Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany.

This volume looks at a central sociological problem - the reconciliation of individual self-interest and social solidarity -through the eyes of villagers in the east Italian Alps. It shows how local conceptions of envy, personal strength, mutual sympathy, and self-sacrifice interact with ideas about language and communications, properties, kinship, and natural forces. Village ritual evokes these conceptions to represent a social system based on age-group solidarity and exchange between the generations, and to link village unity with images of church and state power. Heady draws on both participants observation and interviews with older informants to trace the effects of recent exogenous technological and institutional changes and the way local people have responded to them. His findings relate to such themes of recent history as nationalism, regionalism, and anti-clericalism; and contribute to the theoretical debate on the relevance of structuralist anthropology to European societies.

Over the past few years, a consensus has grown among European policy specialists that kinship should play a larger role in the welfare state. "Family, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe" examines the fundamental questions about such kinship ties and seeks to understand how and why family members help each other and in what circumstances they might withhold their aid. The editors and their collaborators have gathered here three volumes of historical, sociological, and ethnographic studies that inform readers about the diversity of kin relationships in contemporary Europe, the strengths and weaknesses of the various systems, and the extent to which each can be influenced - for better or worse - by the state. Historical and comparative analyses track the impact of political and economic change and show how marriage, cohabitation, fertility rates, and population aging affects the performance and structure of these kinship networks.

Over the last few years, a consensus has grown among European policy specialists that the extended family has a central role to play in the provision of social security. If this view is sincere, and not simply an attempt to reduce state welfare budgets, it is necessary for government officials and social scientists to understand how and why family members help each other and in what circumstances they might withhold their aid. With "Family, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe," the editors and their collaborators have gathered a three-volume array of historical, sociological, and ethnographic data that introduce readers to the types of kin relationships found around contemporary Europe, the strengths and weaknesses of the various systems, and the extent to which each can be influenced--for better or worse--by the state. Historical and comparative analyses track the impact of political and economic change and show how variables such as marriage, cohabitation, and divorce rates; lower fertility; and aging populations interact with the performance and structure of kinship networks.

Kinship is at the heart of European society, sharing with the state responsibility for welfare and social reproduction. But the workings of kinship and their connection to state policies remain controversial. Received theories have had to be revised in the light of social and demographic change and accumulating evidence of long-standing cultural differences. With Family, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe, the editors and their collaborators have gathered a three-volume array of historical, sociological, and ethnographic data that examine these issues and introduce readers to the types of kin relationships found around contemporary Europe.
In this volume the authors report the findings of a comparative ethnographic study - looking at the local reality of family life, its practical constraints, and the support and control offered by wider kinship and community ties, in nineteen localities across Europe. The ethnographic chapters are placed in context by a quantitative comparison of kinship networks and by opening and concluding chapters focusing on kinship theory and the sustainability of kinship and community ties.