Volume 17 - Article 16 | Pages 465–496

Fertility as a process of social exchange

By Patrick Heady

Print this page  Facebook  Twitter

 

 
Date received:17 Apr 2006
Date published:07 Dec 2007
Word count:9629
Keywords:anthropological demography, cooperation, exchange marriage, fertility, homeostatic population regulation, reciprocity, second demographic transition
DOI:10.4054/DemRes.2007.17.16
 

Abstract

By marrying and raising children, parents participate in a system of gift-exchange in which the gifts in question are human lives, and the parties to the exchange are the kinship groups recognised in the society concerned. Fertility reflects the attitudes of prospective parents to their place in the existing system of reproductive exchange, and the relationships of cooperation and authority which it implies - as well as their confidence in the system’s continuing viability.
It is shown that this view is compatible with earlier ideas about self-regulating population systems - and that changing economic circumstances are an important source of discrepancy between existing exchange systems and the attitudes and expectations of prospective parents. The discussion is developed with reference to data on European societies, including a case-study from the Alps, and concludes with an assessment of the relevance of the anthropological theory of gift exchange to contemporary fertility patterns in Europe and beyond.

Author's Affiliation

Patrick Heady - Max-Planck-Institut für Ethnologische Forschung, Germany [Email]

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

» What can anthropological methods contribute to demography - and how?
Volume 16 - Article 18

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

» Attitudinal and behavioural indices of the second demographic transition: Evidence from the last three decades in Europe
Volume 44 - Article 46    | Keywords: fertility, second demographic transition

» Fertility and marriage behavior in Israel: Diversity, change, and stability
Volume 28 - Article 17    | Keywords: fertility, second demographic transition

» The Second Demographic Transition in Israel: One for All?
Volume 27 - Article 10    | Keywords: fertility, second demographic transition

» Overview Chapter 6: The diverse faces of the Second Demographic Transition in Europe
Volume 19 - Article 8    | Keywords: fertility, second demographic transition

» Union formation and fertility amongst immigrants from Pakistan and their descendants in the United Kingdom: A multichannel sequence analysis
Volume 48 - Article 10    | Keywords: fertility

Articles

»Volume 17

 

Citations

 

 

Similar Articles

 

 

Jump to Article

Volume Page
Volume Article ID