Maya Children: Helpers at the Farm

Karen L. Kramer

Harvard University Press, Jul 1, 2009 - Social Science - 272 pages

Among the Maya of Xculoc, an isolated farming village in the lowland forests of the Yucatán peninsula, children contribute to household production in considerable ways. Thus this village, the subject of anthropologist Karen Kramer's study, affords a remarkable opportunity for understanding the economics of childhood in a pre-modern agricultural setting.

Drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives and extensive data gathered over many years, Kramer interprets the form, value, and consequences of children's labor in this maize-based culture. She looks directly at family size and birth spacing as they figure in the economics of families; and she considers the timing of children's economic contributions and their role in underwriting the cost of large families. Kramer's findings--in particular, that the children of Xculoc begin to produce more than they consume long before they marry and leave home--have a number of interesting implications for the study of family reproductive decisions and parent-offspring conflict, and for debates within anthropology over children's contributions in hunter/gatherer versus agricultural societies.

With its theoretical breadth, and its detail on crop yields, reproductive histories, diet, work scheduling, and agricultural production, this book sets a new standard for measuring and interpreting child productivity in a subsistence farming community.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• 1 Children as Helpers at the Nest: 7
• 2 Sources of Variation in Childrens Time Allocation: 29
• 3 Situating the Maya: 47
• 4 Maya Families: 73
• 5 Sampling the Population: 89
• 6 How Maya Children Spend their Time: 99
• 7 Production and Consumption across the Life Course: 121
• 8 Childrens Help from a Parents Perspective: 137
• 9 How Long to Stay and Help: 153
• 10 Do Helpers Really Help?: 165
• The Unfolding World of the Maya: 175
• Tables: 181
• Food List: 201
• Explanation of Scan and FocalFollow Variables: 205
• Adjusting an Analysis of Variance for Proportional Data: 207
• Notes: 211
• References: 221
• Index: 245

About the author

Karen L. Kramer is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Utah.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Maya Children: Helpers at the Farm
• Author: Karen L. Kramer
• Edition: unabridged
• Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2009
• ISBN: 0674039742, 9780674039742
• Length: 272 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social; Social Science / Anthropology / General