HOUSEHOLD ECOLOGY: ECONOMIC CHANGE AND DOMESTIC LIFE AMONG THE KEKCHI MAYA IN BELIZE

HOUSEHOLD ECOLOGY: ECONOMIC CHANGE AND DOMESTIC LIFE AMONG THE KEKCHI MAYA IN BELIZE Review

See more picture

Development and economic change are often seen as destructive to the family and to other traditional forms of social organization. Wilk's study of household ecology reveals that the Kekchi Maya of Belize have responded by creating new forms of family organization, working together to face challenges posed by development. Not merely survivors of an ancient splendor, the Kekchi Maya build upon their rich heritage to approach such problems as ethnic strife and rainforest destruction as creative agents.

Wilk combines a wealth of detail on agricultural calendars, hunting practices, land tenure, and labor exchanges in a general interpretation of cultural and ecological transformation. He provides a comprehensive analysis of how tropical farmers survive in the difficult rainforest environment, tracing the ingenuity and adaptability of Mayan culture. Fully incorporating the historical context of ecological processes, he documents the importance of household organization in shaping the trajectory of ecological change and shows how delicate this adaptation can be. Analyzing household response to localized economic and ecological settings, Wilk argues that the transformation of the rural economy and of Mayan culture proceeds through the conjunction of global and local processes.

The Kekchi refuse to fit into the models of economic evolution set forth in existing scholarship. This sensitive and well-written study challenges current orthodoxies about economic and social change and suggests new approaches to rural development and household ecology.

Check price now

Rerate Products

• Belize & Northern Guatemala (Travellers' Wildlife Guides)
• Introduction to Cultural Ecology
• Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache
• The Making of Belize: Globalization in the Margins
• "Here, Our Culture Is Hard": Stories of Domestic Violence from a Mayan Community in Belize (Louann Atkins Temple Women & Culture Series)

Customer Review

Jan 09, 2012 13:28:36

Households, Work and Economic Change: A Comparative Institutional Perspective (Recent Economic Thought)

Households, Work and Economic Change: A Comparative Institutional Perspective (Recent Economic Thought) Review

See more picture

This book argues that contemporary economic and political change make household level behaviour increasingly significant in the economy. The book investigates interrelations between household and economic change. The conclusions which emerge from these investigations are relevant to policy makers in both social democratic and neo-liberal countries. The comparative approach taken in the book is amenable to the application of institutional theory, which is used to analyse work. The results are interesting to students of economics, political science, sociology and geography, as well as to research and policy specialists from these disciplines.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review

Aug 11, 2011 17:02:05

Housing in Postwar Canada: Demographic Change, Household Formation, and Housing Demand

Housing in Postwar Canada: Demographic Change, Household Formation, and Housing Demand Review

See more picture

The size of Canadian households has been declining since at least the 1880s. Miron compares this trend to patterns of household size in England and the United States and argues that postwar changes in household formation in Canada were the result of several forces including the postwar baby boom, increased longevity, changes in marriage pattern, rising incidence of divorce, increased household affluence, and new forms of government assistance to housing. While aggregate growth in population, families, and households helps to explain why more housing was necessary, it does not explain changes in the kind of houses desired. Miron discusses changes in available housing stock as well as changes in structural type such as the great apartment boom of the late 1960s and the re-emergence of owner occupancy in the late 1970s. The types of data available for measuring change in the stock and sources of error in housing data are also analyzed. One of the books most important contributions is an annotated synthesis of national trends in household formation and housing demand, derived from Statistics Canada census data, and accompanied by an insightful analysis of the relation of these trends to housing stock evolution. This is the only available detailed study of these topics in the Canadian context.

Check price now

Rerate Products

Customer Review

Jun 26, 2011 04:23:41