25. Cooperation and Competition Begin at Home

Abstract

Households are the next social unit above the individual and are home to shared activities that can include resource production, distribution and transmission in addition to reproduction and co-residence. They overlap with biological and social kin groups but are defined by activities rather than by relationships alone. This chapter reviews literature from historical and anthropological studies of households with relevance for human evolutionary demography. Selected research on household effects on mortality, fertility, and intra-household conflict across different agricultural societies is presented to familiarize evolutionary demographers with concepts, issues, and findings in the interdisciplinary and comparative literature on the household. Household researchers have drawn upon evolutionary concepts as part of explanatory models but are less likely to test evolutionary hypotheses directly. Evolutionary researchers have focused on familial relationships, but seldom consider power structures within households and the effects of household composition and dynamics on behaviour. Areas with potential for mutually beneficial collaboration between evolutionary and household analysts are highlighted and advocated for. Such collaborations have the potential to advance our understanding of the determinants of demographic behaviour by joining rich data sources with theoretical frameworks drawn from evolutionary and household perspectives.