Are Households Universal? On Misunderstanding Domestic Groups in Swaziland

Abstract

‘Household’ is not the neutral, universal category that census‐takers have lulled us into believing, but a culturally‐loaded, historically specific, Western term, like ‘family’. This article demonstrates its inappropriateness in capturing the nature of domestic organization in Swaziland through a critical examination of attempts to reduce the indigenous domestic unit umuti (rural homestead) to various constellations of household. The patrilineal homestead on traditionally tenured land persists as the dominant domestic group despite urbanization and the deep penetration of the economy by market principles. The relationship between this homestead and the more ephemeral urban households, into which many of its members are continually dispersed, underlies the linkage between urban and rural areas. Without grounding our understanding of contemporary Swazi society in the rural homestead we fail to understand female‐headed domestic groups, domestic cycles, and the location and dynamics of poverty and wealth.

Conceptualizing the household as an object of study

“…. ]; the assumption may be most problematic for Tropical Africa.’Russell (1993) questions the applicability of the concept of household in a situation where men migrate to work elsewhere and leave their wives and children in the rural homestead. In the absence of their men, the women and their children may pool resources and eat together, but when the men come home, whether or not temporarily, there is a re‐grouping into nuclear family units.…”

A Capital Assets Framework for Analysing Household Livelihood Strategies: Implications for Policy

“…Rural non-farm and urban households are likely to seek a similar range of income sources, although the balance between them will differ (Rakodi, 1995a, b;Moser, 1996Moser, , 1998Reardon, 1997). Given evolving rural-urban and farm-non-farm interactions, a spatially extended concept of the 'household' or 'community' is needed, to take into account migration, commuting and remittances (Evans and Ngau, 1991;Russell, 1993;Heyer, 1996;Bryceson, 1997;Foeken, 1997;Rigg, 1997;McDowell and de Haan, 1997;Tacoli, 1998). A household strategy to increase well-being aims at:…”

Gendered childcare norms — evidence from rural Swaziland to inform innovative structural HIV prevention approaches for young women

“…In rural Swaziland homesteads are units of land allocated to a married male (the homestead head) by community headmen, and extended family social units (Russell, 1993a). As a social unit a homestead may include more than one household (a social unit including people who eat from the same kitchen or "pot").…”