Two-in/One-out: Network Power, Kin-Keeping and ‘Airtight’ Distinction

Abstract

As a network analyst, I am fascinated by social interactions. The ways in which people connect with one another and exercise power and authority by deploying different forms of capital. This piece returns to the underlying and changing kinship network structure of the village of Ambridge over time, explores the role of ‘kin-keeping’ as deployed by the matriarchs Peggy and Jill. I am most interested in the ways in which gender as performed by the women of the village intersects with abundance or lack of other forms of capital, and how far inequalities persist and why. It is clear that there is an intergenerational power dynamic at play in the spreading or hoarding of the various dimensions of power layered together and how forms of capital intersect for protection or precarity. Social and cultural capital at birth in the village is defining in terms of both ‘serious’ life outcomes as well as how more minor infractions and foibles are viewed. Further, I return to discuss how my various network-based predictions have fared over time. The Headlam Hypothesis and the fate of Ed Grundy – King of Ambridge are revisited and their durability explored.

Citation

Headlam, N. (2021), "Two-in/One-out: Network Power, Kin-Keeping and ‘Airtight’ Distinction", Headlam, N. and Courage, C. (Ed.) Flapjacks and Feudalism, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 19-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-386-420211004