Synopses & Reviews
A challenge to economic theories that view the household as a harmonious unit with a single decision-maker, this book shows that in the Third World the household is an arena of conflict marked by inequality and negotiation over income and expenditures. Dwyer and Bruce's introduction is followed by eleven field studies: four in Asia, four in Africa and the Middle East, and three in the Caribbean and Central America. These twelve essays, by economists, sociologists, anthropologists and demographers provide a cogent analysis of household structure dynamics and women's bargaining context. This book will be of interest not only to specialists in gender studies but also to ethnologists and other social scientists.
Synopsis
A challenge to economic theories that view the household as a harmonious unit with a single decision-maker, this book shows that in the Third World the household is an arena of conflict marked by inequality and negotiation over income and expenditures.
Table of Contents
Introduction Judith Bruce and Daisy Dwyer; 1. The material consequences of reproductive failure in rural South Asia Mead Cain; 2. Intergenerational contracts: familial roots of sexual stratification in Taiwan Susan Greenhalgh; 3. Women are good with money: earning and managing in an Indonesian city Hanna Papanek and Laurel Schwede; 4. Women's work and poverty: women's contribution to household maintenance in South India Joan P. Mencher; 5. Household budgeting and financial management in a lower-income Cairo neighborhood Homa Hoodfar; 6. The nonpooling household: a challenge to theory Eleanor R. Fapohunda; 7. Dynamic approaches to domestic budgeting: cases and methods from Africa Jane Guyer; 8. Income allocation and marriage options in Urban Zambia Monica Munachonga; 9. The constraints on and release of female labor power: Dominican migration to the United States Patricia R. Pessar; 10. The impact of Agrarian reform on men's and women's incomes in rural Honduras Constantina Safilios-Rothschild; 11. Renegotiating the marital contract: intrahousehold patterns of money allocation and women's subordination among domestic out workers in Mexico city Martha Roldan; 12. The black four of hearts: toward a new paradigm of household economics Nancy Folbre.