ABSTRACT
The empirical data on the relationship between forms of reciprocal exchange and degree of social distance is complex. There is a vast social science literature on marriage and the family. This chapter focuses on the strategies adopted by aging women as they lose their ability to reciprocate in the ways that had formerly preserved their autonomy. Takie Sugiyama Lebra, in 'An Alternative Approach to Reciprocity', American Anthropologist, argues that it is necessary to understand the purpose of reciprocal exchanges as they are embedded in social practices in order to make sense of the data. Onora O'Neill and William Ruddick Having Children: Philosophical and Legal Reflections on Parenthood is a useful collection of recent articles and court cases on parent-child relationships. Two articles are especially pertinent to the present chapter: Michael Slote, 'Obedience and Illusions', emphasizes the ways in which the notions of parental and divine authority are embedded in the illusions people's need in potent childhood experience.
