A Radical Feminist Kinship Theory for a Future not far away

The future of our planet looks increasingly complex. Wars, climate change, inequalities and electoral victories of extremist parties are challenging resistance movements —such as feminist and LGBT— in many societies. This paper proposes that a major change in family configurations will be necessary in a not far future to guarantee the survival of our societies. Since its beginning, feminism(s) have found in anthropological and sociological studies on kinship the evidence of patriarchy’s functioning and possible transformation (Rubin, 1975). This evidence has been used to propose policies to regulate the excesses of a clearly hierarchical and oppressing kinship system (divorce, adoption, parental authority, rainbow families, or family violence issues are just some examples). Despite the transformations that these policies have made in many societies, different paradigms have co-opted and adapted these measures preserving economic (such capitalism) and political (such the different types of conservatism) relations, and preventing the development of radical kinship transformations. Based on a revision of works on kinship’s critical theory (Clarke & Haraway, 2018; Lewis, 2022) and legal-political outcomes of gender and family policies, this presentation seeks to outline a radical feminist theoretical proposal of kinship. This proposal suggests transforming the foundations of the kinship system that still sustains our legal and family systems: opening the possibility of adopting migrants, elderly people, or even non-human entities (such as ecosystmes); breaking the automatism in the transmission of inheritance between generations; or designing forms of child socialisation that extend bonds of solidarity between people with or without blood ties, are some of the main axes of a radical political programme. References: Clarke, A. E., & Haraway, D. J. (Eds.). (2018). Making kin not population. Prickly Paradigm Press. Lewis, S. (2022). Abolish the family: A manifesto for care and liberation. Verso. Rubin, G. (1975). The Traffic in Women: Notes on the ‘Political Economy’ of Sex. In R. R. Reiter (Ed.), Toward an Anthropology of Women (pp. 157--210). Monthly Review Press. Keywords: Kinship, Radical theory, Family politics, Sex politics