Kinship studies began to gain mainstream recognition in the late 1990s with the surging popularity of feminist anthropology, particularly with its work related to biological anthropology and the intersectional critique of gender relations. At this time, there was the arrival of "Third World feminism", a movement that argued kinship studies could not examine the gender relations of developing countries in isolation, and must pay respect to racial and economic nuance as well. This critique became relevant, for instance, in the anthropological study of Jamaica: race and class were seen as the primary obstacles to Jamaican liberation from economic imperialism, and gender as an identity was largely ignored.
The late 1990s marked a turning point for kinship studies, with feminist anthropology gaining prominence, particularly in conjunction with biological anthropology and intersectional critiques of gender relations. This period also saw the rise of "Third World feminism," which emphasized that kinship studies should not be limited to developing countries but must consider racial and economic factors.