Sexual Division of Labor in African Agriculture: A Network Autocorrelation Analysis

Abstract

A model of causes and consequences of sexual division of labor in agriculture is tested using a sample of Afncan societies. Crop type and the presence or absence of slavery are shown to be effective predictors of the degree of female contribution to agricultural subsirtence, and the degree of polygyny u shown to be affected by female agricultural contribution and the form of residence. Autocorrelation effects are found and are shown to be a consequence of Bantu societies having higher female participation in agriculture than would otherwise be expected. His publications on the theory of social structure range from Mexican and North American Indian comparative and cade studies to previous cross-cultural studies on the division of labor, and to more general mathematical models and methods. He is currently publishing a network theory of role. status. and social structure using various case studies.MALCOLM M. DOW meived his B.A.

Sexual Division of Labor in Agriculture

“…However, high temperatures and low female subsistence contributions co-occur in the Middle East, so this hypothesis does not seem plausible. White, Burton, and Dow (1981) provide an alternative hypothesis concerning the ef- (86. 1984 fects of climate on the sexual division of labor in agriculture.…”

“…Ember proposes three causes of the intensification of female domestic labor: more time spent on food processing because of the use of cereal crops (White, Burton, and Dow 1981); more time spent caring for the more complex, permanent household, including more time spent obtaining water and fuel; and more time spent on child care because children's labor is more valuable in intensive regimes (Nag 1962; White 1973) and fertility is higher.…”

First molar size and wear within and among modern hunter-gatherers and agricultural populations

“…Subsistence: exclusively agriculture (Trezenem, 1940;White et al, 1981). Diet: mainly crops (Walters, 2010).…”

“…Batéké-Balali and Navajo are representatives of agricultural societies, with crop-based diets (Trezenem, 1940;Underhill, 1956;Walters, 2010;White et al, 1981). We can therefore assume that the diet types of the Inuit, Batéké-Balali, and Navajo are more abrasive than that of the typical hunting and gathering diet of Agta.…”

Simulating trait evolution for cross-cultural comparison

“…While 'vertical' and 'horizontal' most aptly refer to transmission of traits between individuals (whether individuals learn from their parents or other community members), a similar distinction can be made at the population level, namely whether cultures develop by a tree-like splitting process (phylogenesis) or by admixture (ethnogenesis). Thus, under phylogenesis, cultural change results from the transmission of ideas and practices from parental to daughter cultural taxa (White et al 1981;Moore & Romney 1994;Holden 2002;Tehrani & Collard 2002). Under ethnogenesis, cultural evolution occurs through the borrowing and blending of ideas and practices and the trade of objects among contemporary societies (e.g.…”