Fathers and Sons: Kinship Value and Validation in Tibetan Polyandry

The assumption that men invariably place their first priorities with their own, over siblings', children, is a long-standing one and informs, for example, discussions of matrilineal and joint family systems. Fraternal polyandry as practised by ethnic. Tibetans in northwest Nepal, however, counters this view. Here men do not necessarily seek the advantage of children they believe to be their own. Rather their principal concerns lie with socially validated fatherhood, specifically with the right to `bind a child in one's name', and with children who have greater social value to them. Comparison of these cases shows how larger socio-cultural systems mould parent-child relationships and also how these relationships are strongest where they find jural support.