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Sociology of the Family

Sociology of the Family. Week 5 Families in Historical Perspective. No serious scholarly work available on families and households for the period before the nineteenth century .

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Sociology of the Family

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  1. Sociology of theFamily Week 5 Families in HistoricalPerspective

  2. No seriousscholarlyworkavailable on familiesandhouseholdsfortheperiodbeforethenineteenthcentury. • Faroqhi: “Beforethe 19th century, there is no waytolearnaboutfamilystructureandmarriagepatterns.”

  3. 16th century - Ottomantaxregisters • 17-19th centuries – darkages of Ottomansocialhistory • Fragmentaryregisters, encompasssmallareas • Dispersal of dense net of villages • Renomadization of segments of population Mid-nineteenthcentury – increasing urban population, moreconsistentcensuses, andcourtrecords.

  4. Early 19th century – 1940s (Tanzimat, 1839) - post WorldWar II Despiteintroduction of administrativemeasures, life didn’tchangedramaticallyfortheruralpopulationuntilthe 1950s. Duben’sanalysesarelimitedtopresent-dayTurkeyandtofamiliesandhouseholds of settledagriculturaland urban segments of thesociety, andtoMuslimTurks.

  5. Duben’sanalysesbased on secondarysources, classicalethnographies of the 1940s, hencegeographicallydiverseandhardertogeneralize (thoughconsistentpatternsemergeacrossregions).

  6. Turkishhouseholdstructures • Aile (Arabic) • Hane (Persian) Hane is differentfromev since it invokesboththebuildingandthecorrespondingsocialgroup. Ailedenotes (i) a person’swife, (ii) a relative, and (iii) members of thehousehold (Devellioğlu). Emphasizing a kinshiprelationship, particularlyconjugalbond.

  7. Yasa (1944, Hasanoğlan, Ankara) • Aile referstowives, namelythemother of thierchildren. • Berkes (1940-41, Ankara) • Aile composes of husband, wifeandtheirchildren, yet not an economicunit. • Stirling (1949, Sakaltutanand Elbaşı, Kayseri) • Aile refersto a socialgroupcomposing of father, motherandchildren (grandchildren) withoutentailingcommonresidence.

  8. Özertuğ (1970s, centralAnatolia) • Three folk definitions of aile: • Wife • Marriedcouplewith/withoutoffsprings, widoworwidowerwith/withoutoffsprings • An ego-centered kin group. Aile not considered a socialunit in villagesociety as hane is. Aile is themarriedcouplewith/outchildren, located in a houseand is thesubdivision of hane. It is theunit of biologicalreproduction of society.

  9. Hane is themajorunit of productionandconsumption in ruralsocietyand in traditional urban society of artisansandtraders. • “a singlepurseand a single pot” • No consensuswhether hane is a residentialunitor not, andthecriteriaformembership in it.

  10. FromOttomanadministrativepoint of view hane is theunit of taxation. • Berkesdoes not considercoresidence a sufficientconditionfor hane membership, though a necessaryone. Accordingly, onemust be a kinsmanandalsopart of a productionunitto be considered a member of the hane. • Hence, residentlaborersandservantsare not considered hane members in ruralsociety, yet theyare in certaincases in the urban society (concubines (cariye) andnannies (dadı) weregivencertainrightsthesame as femalehouseholdmembers, such as rightto a dowry).

  11. Inorderto be considered a hane memberifone is not a bloodrelative, one had toclaim a relationshipbymarriage (sıhriyet). • Berkes: Emphasis on bloodconnections. For a brideto be considered a fullmember of the hane, she had togivebirthto a child, hence be linkedwith her husband’s hane consanguineally (throughblood).

  12. Hane: Sharedactivity (independenteconomicunit), sharedkinshiptiesandcoresidence (solidified form of kinshiprelations in space). • Theactualresidentialunit is the hane, whereeach of itsparts (oda) areoccupiedbyonefamily (aile), structurallysimilarconjugalunits.

  13. The hane as a coresidentialunit is a segmentalstructure in theDurkheimian sense. • Hanesandodas put togetherbyjuxtapositionandcomposedthelarger hane byagglutination (comingtogether). Theywereflexible, can be addedtoanddeletedfromeachotherwithease, andcould be located at variousdegrees of proximitytoeachother. • Publicspaceconnectingthemcould be a sofa, a courtyard, a street, ortheycouldshare a modern apartmentbuilding.

  14. However, tohaveconstituted a hane as a total socialunitsharinglocation is not sufficient, theymusthavealsosharedproductionandconsumption. • As units of productionandconsumption, hanesareorganicstructures in theDurkheimian sense.

  15. Thedivision of labor in workandpatterns of consumptiondid not break downfamilybyfamily, but ratherfollowedlines of sexandage. • Hence, interconnectingdiversemembers of thefamilies of the hane as individuals in a dependencythatturnedtheminto a corporateunit (in a waythatthefamily (aile) in itselfwas not).

  16. Familieswereresidentiallyautonomous, yet connected as individualstotheir hane as a corporategroup. • Inthe hane, therights of individuals (toproperty ) were not sanctionediftheyopposedtheinterests of thehousehold (hane) as a corporateunit.

  17. Householdformation • Hajnal’sEuropeanhouseholdformationrules • Jointhouseholdsystem (non-European). • Men andwomenmarryearlyand start married life in a household in which an oldercouple is andremains in charge. • A system of fission in whichseveralmarriedcouplessplitto form twoormorehouseholds. Thetiming of thesplit is important in terms of the size andcomposition of households.

  18. Marriage as thecentralfeature of householdformation in Europe. Whereasmarriage has littleimpact on householdformation in Russia, theBalkans (EasternEurope) andTurkey. • Residenceforthenewlywedcouplewaspatrivirilocal (withthehusband’sfather) • Authorityremained in thehands of thepatriarch, youngcouple had no controloverfactors of production (inheritancedelayeduntilthedeath of thefather).

  19. Householdformation in lateOttomanAnatolia • Marriage not as significant as in Western Europe. Markedinitiation of biologicalreproduction of a newgeneration. • Mortalityratherthannuptialitywasthe engine pullingthesystem. • Realignment of authority, relocation of residence, anddevolution (transfer) of propertyrightswerebased on thedeath of thepatriarch.

  20. In western Europe, substantialshare of inheritancewasreceived at marriage. Whereas in Turkeydevolution of propertywas post mortem (afterdeath). • Marriagemeanttheentranceintothehusband’shousehold of a gelin andtheformation of a newconjugalunit. But it did not changethestructure of the hane as a productionandconsumptionunit, orpropertyrights. • Thepatriarch, however, wasresponsibleforprovidingresidentialquartersforthenewconjugaluniteitherunderthesameroofor in closeproximity.

  21. Residentialquartersfurnishedeitherbythegroomorthebride’sfamily, varyingaccordingtoregion. • Marriagealsoinvolvedthe transfer of wealth in the form of bride-price, eithertothebrideherself (mehir, in accordancewithhanefischool of Islamiclaw), ortothefather of thebride (başlık, in contravention of Islamicprecepts).

  22. Inheritancepractices • Division of propertyamongalloffspringsregardless of gender • Fragmentation of theestateunderIslamiclawandinterests of thestate (preventingtheemergence of powerfullandowners) • Preservation of landandpreventingparcelization (miri land, timarsystem) • Disinheritingall but thesenior sun (evlatlık vakfı) • Commonpracticewasequaldivision of landamongallsonsuponthedeath of thepatriarch.

  23. Death of thepatriarchdeterminesthetiming of fission. • Daughtersarereplacedbygelins as sonsmarryanddaughtersleavetheirnatalhousewhentheymarry. • Afterpatriarch’sdeathmarriedbrothersseldomcontinuetolivetogether, thedivision of theestateeventuallymeansthe break-up of the hane.

  24. Partibleinheritancesystem • Lowmantolandratio • Worked as an economicsafetyvalve, preventingamassing of largeestates • Earlyage at firstmarriage • Honordefinedthroughfemalesexuality, earlymarriage as a safetystrategy • Marriage not linkedtodevolution of property • No needto be self-supportinguponmarriage

  25. TurkishfamiliesdifferfromRussianandMediterraneanfamilieswithregardtoremarriage.TurkishfamiliesdifferfromRussianandMediterraneanfamilieswithregardtoremarriage. • Remarriage • Economicnecessity • Imbalance in sexratio • Levirate (marryingbrother’swifeupon his death, yenge) andsororate (marryingwife’ssisterupon her death, baldız) marriages

  26. Whymoresimplefamilies? • Morethan 60% of allhouseholdsweresimple • Size andcomplexity of householdsare a function of threedemographicfactors: • Number of sonssurvivingtomarraigeableage • Theage at whichtheymarry • Theage at thedeath of thepatriarch

  27. Partibleinheritancesystemleadtofragmentation of holdings, henceonlysmallandsimplehouseholdscouldsurvive. • Householdspassedthroughstages • Nuclear/extendedfamilyhhsoonafterthedeath of thefather • Multiplefamilyhhwhensons of thesonsgotmarried • Onceagainnuclear/extendedfamilyhhuponthedeath of thesons

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