Fewer men, more babies : sex, family, and fertility in Haiti / Timothy T. Schwartz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schwartz, Timothy T.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Families--Haiti.

Families.

Sex role--Haiti.

Sex role.

Birth control--Haiti.

Birth control.

Fertility, Human--Haiti.

Fertility, Human.

Haiti--Social conditions.

Haiti.

Social conditions.

Haiti--Economic conditions.

Economic conditions.

Physical Description:

viii, 281 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Lexington Books, [2009]

Summary:

Based on original ethnographic research, this book demonstrates how the process unfolds in contemporary rural Haiti; how intensive work regimes make children necessary; how this necessity conditions sexual behavior, gender relations, and kinship; and why, despite massive contraceptive campaigns, birth rates in rural Haiti continue to be among the highest in the world. Timothy T. Schwartz offers a solution to a demographic paradox that some of the most prominent sociologists and demographers of the twentieth century noted but were never able to explain: among impoverished small farmers, when more men are absent due to male wage migration, the women remaining behind give birth to more, not fewer, babies.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Chapter 2 Review of the Literature 13

Chapter 3 The Commune of Jean Rablel 25

Chapter 4 Extremely High Fertility 39

Chapter 5 The Pronatal Sociocultural Fertility Complex 47

Chapter 6 The Sexual Moral Economy 55

Chapter 7 House, Yard, and Market 65

Chapter 8 Farming and Household-Based Production 85

Chapter 9 Fishing 95

Chapter 10 Work, Craftsmen, and Marketing Specialists 103

Chapter 11 Labor Demands 115

Chapter 12 Gender and Age-Based Divisions of Labor 129

Chapter 13 What Parents Have to Say about the Economic Utility of Children 143

Chapter 14 Raising Children and Control over Child Labor Activities 157

Chapter 15 Conjugal Union and the Formation of the Household 171

Chapter 16 Polygyny, Progeny, and Production 181

Chapter 17 Caribbean Family Patterns 209

Chapter 18 Fewer Men, More Babies 227

Chapter 19 A Reflexive and Critical Look at the Anthropology of the Caribbean 239

Works Cited 257

Table 1.1 Total fertility rates in Haiti (TFR) 1

Table 3.1 Major natural disasters in Jean Rabel since 1921 27

Table 3.2 Transport vehicles 31

Table 3.3 Offspring deceased by children born (per mother) 33

Table 3.4 Migration of the offspring of owners of irrigated land 34

Table 3.5 Current location of circa 1960 villagers and their offspring 34

Table 3.6 Contraceptive knowledge and use 35

Table 3.7 Women using contraceptives in Far-West 1998-1999 35

Table 3.8 Population of Jean Rabel in the years 1728-1997 36

Table 3.9 Knowledge of contraceptive methods 37

Table 4.1 Most commonly eaten foods in Jean Rabel 40

Table 4.2 Mean age of follow-up survey respondents 42

Table 4.3 Temporary male migration in Jean Rabel 42

Table 4.4 Individuals still with first spouse 43

Table 4.5 Hutterites vs. Jean Rabeliens: Percentage of women in union 44.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739128671

0739128671

OCLC:

318100422