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The Structure of Authority in Rural Households
Ruža First
Sažetak
In view of the close connection between rural and urban areas, the current
de-structurization of the rural family and the preservation of certain traditional
varieties, the authoress assumes that in Yugoslav rural areas there are different
types of family authority ranging from the traditional patriarchal type to the
mixed and egalitarian types. On this assumption she bases the typology of family
authority: the patriarchal, the transient and the egalitarian types. The basic characteristic
of the patriarchal type is that decisions are made exclusively by the oldest member of the household (the householder); the transient type includes
the cases where several members of the household participate in decision making,
though some adult members are excluded; and the egalitarian type is marked
by the fact that decisions are made by all adult members of the household regardless
of sex and age. As an indicator in establishing the structure of family authority
the authoress used the proportion to which the members of the household
share in the adoption of important family decisionsconnected with the organization
of farm production and the distribution of income within the household.
The study, which was carried out in the Vojvodina and Kosovo regions, covered
907 households.
The results obtained indicate that, while observable in both regions, the decline
of patriarchal authority is more marked in Vojvodina than in Kosovo. In the
Kosovo region, the functions of organizing farm production and distributing income
are still vested in one person — the householder. However, the number of households
in which all adult members appear in both roles is greater in Vojvodina
than in Kosovo.
The distribution of authority in the two basic spheres of decision making
shows that as regards decisions on the productive orientation the patriarchal
type still predominates in both regions. As regards decisions on spending, there
exist certain differences, with the egalitarian type of decision making prevailing
in Vojvodina and the patriarchal type in Kosovo.
A marked connection between the structure of family authority and the general
structural features of households has been observed in Vojvodina where single-
-family households have a parentalistic structure of authority, and multi-family
households a paternistic one. This connection is less marked in Kosovo, probably
because in addition to the region’s highly complex family forms, traditional views
regarding the place of women and children in intra-family relations still survive
in the region.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
119021
URI
Datum izdavanja:
10.6.1969.
Posjeta: 884 *