Frontmatter -- FOREWORD -- Preface -- Table of contents -- Part 1. Theory and methodology -- 1 Social network: Its use as a conceptual framework in family analysis -- 2 Networks, norms and institutions -- 3 Network analysis and social theory Some remarks -- 4 Some applications of the notion of density to network analysis -- Part 2. Networks compared -- 5 Network density among urban families -- 6 Social network and conjugal role in urban Zambia: Towards a reformulation of the Bott hypothesis -- 7 Two types of partial networks in Burundi -- 8 An exploration of two first-order zones -- Part 3. Network and coalitions -- 9 Coalitions in Sicilian peasant society -- 10 Politics on the village level -- 11 Coalitions and network analysis -- Bibliography -- Biographical data of authors -- Subject index