Conceptualizing the household as an object of study

Abstract

The use of the term household and the theoretical and empirical meanings attached to it have undergone changes through time. When Home Economics was established as an academic field of study, the household became its primary unit of analysis. In Northern societies, the concept of family gradually began to occupy the limelight, and functions and aspects formerly attributed to the household in studies on the domestic domain began to feature in family studies. Against the backdrop of the second feminist wave and the emergence of consumer society and urban lifestyles, the household was increasingly treated as a unit of consumption only. Such a narrow conceptualization of the household not only limits its application to certain types of societies but also obstructs our view on the ways in which people provide for their food and care needs, cope with deprivation and adversity, and leaves the important role women play in these processes under‐exposed. These arguments are developed on the basis of an analysis of the results of 12 recent (2002–2010) Wageningen University PhD research projects in different Asian and African countries. The concepts of family and home emerge in the analysis as well, but are seen as partly overlapping with the concept of household and subsumed under it. On the basis of the results of the analysis and the literature, the paper formulates conclusions about the importance of the household as a unit of analysis and the relevance of a field of study that focuses on households and the domestic domain.

Social Influence and Sustainable Consumption

“…To give historical perspective, there has been some criticism of household studies from the 1950s on that too much emphasis was placed on the consumption function and far too less on the production function of families and households (Niehof 2011). The usual reason cited for this change in research emphasis is that it reflected the trends of the times toward mass consumption aided by the growth of advertising, the increasing urbanization of populations, and the growth of households (the baby boom) after World War II.…”

Interhousehold variability and its effects on seed circulation networks: a case study from northern Cameroon

“…Anthropologists have indicated that household, as a notion, is difficult to define cross-culturally. Indeed, it encompasses residential formations ranging from nuclear families to extended kin groups (Netting et al 1984, Augustins 1998, Niehof 2011. Households also vary in size and composition within a community (Goody 1958).…”

Food and nutrition security as gendered social practice

“…I see food security as anchored to households and nutrition security to individuals. Conceptualising households as resourcemanaging family-based groups that are geared towards meeting the primary and daily needs of their members (Niehof 2011), implies that for most people it is in their household that actions are undertaken and strategies deployed to meet their food needs. To be able do this, households need resources.…”