ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book attempts to see some recent developments in social anthropology in the light of developments in some other fields of social science. It shows how the problem arose and how theoretical formulations interact with the study of empirical situations. The book offers as a general tribute to Radcliffe-Brown rather than as a specific token of allegiance to his system of ideas. It argues that some historical reconstruction, and in this respect has been supplemented by more detailed material, including stories of threats to the succession, in the author analysis of Tikopia traditions. It could be argued that such traditional material describes not the actual principles of succession but what the Tikopia thought they were, or thought they ought to have been, or wished it believed that they were.
