Suchergebnisse

Anthropology's unique contribution to a discussion of causality is rooted in its specialization in culture rather than in methodological protocols for bolstering our confidence in correlations. This is so because causal arguments are inherently interpretive and, moreover, because human actors themselves operate in terms of meaning. The best interpretive models direct analytic attention to contexts of meaning and motivation. Because these meanings lie inside of people's heads, the interpretation of causality in these terms demands that the validity of analyses be argued for in terms of logical coherence based on highly localized criteria. As with all explanations of human behavior, demographic explanations are as a consequence open to constant reformulation based on new information and the never‐ending search for coherence.

Abstract Recent research in many areas of social demography has begun to address the implications of cultural, social, and economic context for individual–level preferences and behavior. We expand on this theme by arguing that multiple levels of context may simultaneously direct individual–level strategies. We focus on the relationship between women's natal kin ties and their demand for children, a substantive area in which context is thought to be particularly important. We use a combination of ethnographic and survey data to measure contextual characteristics, women's ties to their natal families, and couples' fertility preferences and behavior. Our results demonstrate that particularly supportive relationships with natal kin have more influence on fertility preferences and behavior than contact with natal kin, although both dimensions are important. The results also show that even within the same cultural context, radically different community environments can produce opposite consequences of ties to natal kin.

Anthropological and other approaches to women's natal kin links demonstrate a relationship between these linkages and the reproduction of social inequality, in addition to noting implications for the social standing of women themselves. Few studies have, however, dynamically considered the simultaneous dimensions of individual history, community context, and interfamilial politics influencing such contact. Using data from two Tamang communities in Nepal, this article examines the impact of changing individual experience and interfamilial relations on home visits in the first year of marriage. Explicit attention is given to these forms of social action as a critical moment in the construction of social inequality. Informant testimony is combined with statistical analysis to demonstrate the salience of these natal visits in the early months of marriage for individual and wider social relationships. The visits are shown to be strongly related to the nature of interfamilial relations organized by marriage in addition to earlier life‐course experiences of women. Different community contexts, however, condition the direction of effects for these variables in ways consistent with enduring structures of relationship.

Many countries pigeon-hole people within racial, ethnic, and language categories - with important implications for people's own identities and life chances, and for national political and social processes. This book reviews categorizing efforts by the state, illustrating the case with studies from a range of countries

The Changing Landscape of Work and Family in the American Middle Class explores the dynamics of the modern American family and how they have adapted to the changing economy and culture. Contributors from a variety of disciplines redefine the concept of the ""model American family"" and provide well-researched insight into what the new standards for judging family life and its functionality will be