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KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS
The economic theory of John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) associated with a stress on the necessity of active government intervention in the direction and control of the economy. The most central idea is that the business cycle of capitalist economies, irregular alternations of boom and bust, can be smoothed out by government creation of credit, investment activity and income transfers during economic contraction and the raising of revenue surplus during periods of expansion. This approach, in Keynes' theory, offered insurance against the human cost of mass unemployment and the wastage of productive capacity by economic instability. For several decades, beginning in the 1930's, this was the dominant model for the economic policies of western governments. Since the mid 1970's, monetarism has challenged and, to some extent, displaced Keynesian economics as the framework for public policy and academic work. Keynesian economics is linked to a strong public policy, the welfare state and active state involvement in the economy, while monetarism supports a non-interventionist state, privatization and reliance on the self-regulating forces of the market. See: MONETARISM / .

KINSEY REPORT
Two volumes on the Sexual Behavior of the Human Male (1948) and the Sexual Behavior of the Human Female (1953) by researcher Alfred C. Kinsey (1894-1956). These two volumes stirred a storm of criticism as the results about the frequency of sexual activity such as premarital intercourse and masturbation were seen as alarming. Further, the report provided what was the first scientific enumeration of homosexual activity and suggested that this sexual preference was very common and must be regarded as normal.

KINSHIP STRUCTURE
A term referring to the way social relationships between individuals related by blood, affinal ties or socially defined (fictive) connection are organized and normatively regulated. Kinship is the central organizational principle of many traditional societies, since it is through the kinship structure that social placement, cultural transmission and many functional necessities for life will be met. Extent of relevant kinship connection differs greatly from society to society. Kinship bonds are generally defined more broadly and extensively in traditional societies than in modern capitalist societies.

KOMAGATA MARU
The name of a ship chartered by a group of Sikhs and used to sail to Vancouver, Canada, in anticipation of immigration being granted. At the time of its sailing, 1914, Indians could only come to Canada if they sailed continuously (or directly) from India to Canada, although there were no such regular routes. All others were to be prohibited entry to Canada, a method to restrict immigration of people from the Indian sub-continent. The Komagata Maru sailed from Hong Kong with 376 Punjabis on board. On arrival at the port of Vancouver they were denied entry and were kept on board for two months while negotiations proceeded. These negotiations eventually failed and the ship returned to Calcutta where 20 of the passengers were killed in clashes with authorities who were suspicious of the politics of the travellers.

KULA RING
A complex system of visits and exchanges among the Trobriand Islanders of the western Pacific first described by Bronislaw Malinowski in 1922. Necklaces were exchanged in one direction among the residents of a chain of islands and armbands exchanged in the opposite direction (hence the notion of a ring). These exchanges did not serve primarily an economic function but served to create social obligations among peoples which could be depended upon at various times in an individual's life. The person who gave the most gifts would create the most obligations and in this sense create the most wealth by forming a relational net which could be depended upon. See: GIFT, THE / .

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Athabaca University ICAAP

© Robert Drislane, Ph.D. and Gary Parkinson, Ph.D.
The online version of this dictionary is a product of
Athabasca University and
ICAAP

*This social science dictionary has 1000
entries covering the disciplines of sociology, criminology, political
science and women's study with a commitment to Canadian examples and
events and names