In most farmer-era cultures extended families, or clans, were the main unit of social organization, for production, marriage, politics, war, law, and insurance. People trusted their clans, but not outsiders, and felt little obligation to treat outsiders fairly. Our industrial economy, in contrast, relies on our trusting and playing fair in new kinds of organizations: firms, cities, and nations, and on our changing our activities and locations to support them.
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“0.2% of all marriages are [cousin marriages] in the United States but in India 26.6% marriages are [cousin marriages], in Saudi Arabia the figure is 38.4% and in Niger, Pakistan and Sudan a majority of marriages are [cousin marriages]. Cousin marriage used to be more common in the West.”
As these folks migrate westward, what does that do to their cousin-marriage rates?
There isn’t as much change as you might think, especially when policies favor immigration by extended families. Google “Bradford+Pakistani+consanguinity”.
This small study actually shows a marked increase in endogamy: http://jmg.bmj.com/content/25/3/186.full.pdf