Agnation

Between an uncle and his sister's son, therefore, there is no agnation, but only kinship

Furthermore, for reasons that will by now be obvious, interhouse relations represent a paradigm for the politics of agnation at large: any competition for influence or position among patrilateral kin is, in essence, a rivalry between houses produced by a shared ancestor and reproduced across the generations, and particular units, whether or not they take the initiative in such processes, are ultimately drawn into their purview (see chap. 2).