Kinship and State Performance in Contemporary Latvia: Summary

In this brief summary of the book "Kinship and State Performance in Contemporary Latvia" Klāvs Sedlenieks briefly sketches the history of kinship studies in anthropology, the major directions in state anthropology, and explains the meaning of the term 'state performance.' Sedlenieks describes the state as a phenomenon that emerges through the various actions of its inhabitants (the state is performed), thus, the state can be compared to a liquid crystal—possessing structure yet also being fluid. At the same time, the state accommodates multiple perspectives, from which the actions of other actors may appear incomprehensible. The author argues that in Europe, the state and kinship are not two competing forms of social organization but essentially one phenomenon. Thus, the state is a direct manifestation of European kinship. The author provides a brief insight into each of the chapters of the book.