Социалната сигурност след социализма: значението на родствените мрежи
Social security after socialism: the significance of kinship networks

Summary/Abstract: Anthropological debates on types of social security consider local strategies of people trying to cope with potential insecurities and life crisis situations (v. Benda-Beckmann et al. 2000). In many cases these strategies require the use of all possible resources (skills, labour, land, property, money, etc.) accessible through kinship and social networks. In the article the local meanings of social security are reviewed through specific examples of rural households. The analysis accentuates the role of family and kinship networks and their efficacy and function¬ality in observing the normatively defined kinship solidarity. The conclusions point that the social security in the village is viewed as a collective achievement in which kinship reciprocal obligations provide the means for satisfying urgent needs in the family. The social security and integration of every individual to a great extent depend on the quality of his/her relation¬ship to the family and kinship group – to that collective entity he/she is part of defined by birth and marriage.

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