Neolocal Residence
Since it's the one most familiar to those of us with Western minds, we'll jump right into neolocal. With 'neo' meaning 'new,' a neolocal residence system is simply one in which a married couple lives separately from the kin of both spouses. Keeping the home goods section of department stores all over the West booming, it's when a couple marries then sets up a home of their own.
About two decades ago, my boyfriend asked me to be his fiancé. A few months after that, he became my husband, and we began our lives together in a tiny little apartment above a hair salon on the main street of our town. Due to its location, the apartment was pretty loud and oh so very small. However, to this day, it's probably one of my most favorite places I've ever lived. I say this not because it was a grand place; it was pretty much the opposite. I say this because it's where my husband and I began our life together. Speaking very anthropologically, it was where we set up our own neolocal residence, sort of just he and I against the world!
Guessing that the term 'neolocal' is unfamiliar to most of us, today's lesson will seek to explain it. Going further, it will also dive into other forms of residence found around the globe, specifically that of matrilocal, patrilocal, bilocal, and avunculocal systems.
Although neolocal residence is a commonplace thing for many of us, anthropologists assert it definitely isn't for the rest of the world. Quite the contrary, they argue that neolocal residence systems are only usually found in industrialized and commercialized societies where individuals trade money for labor, goods, and services. With this transfer of money for labor and such, couples are usually able to be self-sufficient, not usually needing to lean on kin groups or families for their survival. Also, in a more modernized society, couples often need to move in order to find work. In other words, they go where the money is, and many times, this leads them away from their family groups.