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How did A.R. Radcliffe-Brown explain connections between natural species and social groups?

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totem fish mask — Totemism Totem fish mask from the Orokolo Bay area of New Guinea. Painted bark cloth over rattan frame with fringe of dried grass. Height 1.63 m.

A.R. Radcliffe-Brown rejected the idea that totemism could be defined by a single, unified origin or religious function. Instead, he argued that totemism is a collection of elements from various institutions that share a common tendency: characterizing segments of a community through their connection to portions of the natural world.1

Radcliffe-Brown proposed that nature is integrated into the social order rather than being secondary to it. He moved away from earlier theories—such as the notion that animals were totems simply because they were "good to eat"—noting that many totems are actually dangerous or unpleasant.1

In his later work, he identified a structural principle based on the translation of similarities and differences between natural species into social concepts of friendship, conflict, and opposition. He argued that totemism functions by using the natural world to express interrelationships and antitheses within society. Consequently, thinking in terms of opposing categories became, for him, an essential structural principle for understanding how totemistic systems organize social groups.1