https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315065892/woman-role-economic-development-ester-boserup-su-fei-tan-camilla-toulmin-nazneen-kanji famously theorised that plough-cultivation encouraged patriarchy because it rewards upper body strength. Men worked outside the home, while women processed cereals indoors. Female domesticity became naturalised. Alesina and colleagues find that traditional use of the plough <scholar.harvard.edu/nunn/publ…> is correlated with lower female labour force participation and more patriarchal norms today. This paper has gained serious traction, with over two thousand citations. But have they accurately identified the causal mechanisms? Boserup’s theory is untrue, on two counts. Domesticity entails neither seclusion nor subordination. While an igloo certainly represented the female domain, domesticity was never denigrated. Even if Inuit women historically spent time indoors, they have since been quick to seize job opportunities and provide for their families. Boserup and Alesina confuse cults of female domesticity and seclusion. Although these two appear superficially similar, the underlying rationales are totally different, and thus respond very differently to economic opportunities. In the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, men’s honour is contingent on female chastity. It’s all about control of sexuality. Female employment remains low—unless available earnings are sufficiently high to compensate for men’s loss of honour…\n\nBD: If I understand <twitter.com/_alice_ev…> your critique of Boserup & of Alesina-Giuliano-Nunn, it is thus: the key is not that plough forces women into domesticity; breastfeeding & pregnancy push domesticity whether plough or hoe; the key is plough makes wheat land valuable. & once boys start inheriting valuable things from their (supposed) fathers, whether wheat land or animals, Big Trouble is highly likely to follow. Have I misread you?\n\nAE: Exactly. It’s hard to know what motivated people to form patrilocal clans thousands of years ago. But looking at global history, I always find that valuable land –> patrilocal clans, unless it’s interrupted by the Catholic Church! The other issue with the Boserup/ Alesina hypothesis is that they think the primary driver of subordination is domesticity. Not really. The main factor shaping female labour supply is whether there’s a cult of female seclusion. That’s not entailed by patrilocal clans either\n\nBD: Patrilocal clans => male inheritance => great concern for paternity => control & seclusion of women?\n\nAE: Partly, yes. But even among patrilocal clans, there’s ENORMOUS heterogeneity. Turkic, Mongols, and Kazakhs were patrilocal, and women were in a junior position, but they did not enforce seclusion. Genghis Khan organised female diplomats/ ambassadors. So Kazakhs only adopted islam superficially, and women seized job opportunities under the soviets. There was very little resistance to secularism.","body_json":{"type":"doc","attrs":{"schemaVersion":"v1"},"content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"Economic History"},{"type":"text","text":": "},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":"Alice Evans has a rather elliptical critique of Boserup and of Alesina, Giuliano, & Nunn on the coming of the plough and the entrenchment of patriarchy that I think is important, but that I do not quite grasp:"}]},{"type":"paragraph"},{"type":"blockquote","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Alice Evans"},{"type":"text","text":": Do the Inuit fit with popular theories of patriarchy? <"},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"https://draliceevans.substack.com/p/what-the-inuit-teach-us-about-gender","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow ugc noopener","class":"note-link"}}],"text":"https://draliceevans.substack.com/p/what-the-inuit-teach-us-about-gender"},{"type":"text","text":">: ’Esther Boserup <"},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"https://draliceevans.substack.com/p/what-the-inuit-teach-us-about-gender","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow ugc noopener","class":"note-link"}}],"text":"https://draliceevans.substack.com/p/what-the-inuit-teach-us-about-gender"},{"type":"text","text":"> famously theorised that plough-cultivation encouraged patriarchy because it rewards upper body strength. Men worked outside the home, while women processed cereals indoors. Female domesticity became naturalised. Alesina and colleagues find that traditional use of the plough <"},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"https://draliceevans.substack.com/p/what-the-inuit-teach-us-about-gender","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow ugc noopener","class":"note-link"}}],"text":"https://draliceevans.substack.com/p/what-the-inuit-teach-us-about-gender"},{"type":"text","text":"> is correlated with lower female labour force participation and more patriarchal norms today. This paper has gained serious traction, with over two thousand citations. But have they accurately identified the causal mechanisms? Boserup’s theory is untrue, on two counts. Domesticity entails neither seclusion nor subordination. While an igloo certainly represented the female domain, domesticity was never denigrated. Even if Inuit women historically spent time indoors, they have since been quick to seize job opportunities and provide for their families. Boserup and Alesina confuse cults of female domesticity and seclusion. Although these two appear superficially similar, the underlying rationales are totally different, and thus respond very differently to economic opportunities. In the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, men’s honour is contingent on female chastity. It’s all about control of "},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":"sexuality"},{"type":"text","text":". Female employment remains low—unless available earnings are sufficiently high to compensate for men’s loss of "},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":"honour"},{"type":"text","text":"…"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph"},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"BD"},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":": If I understand "},{"type":"text","text":"<"},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"link","attrs":{"href":"https://draliceevans.substack.com/p/what-the-inuit-teach-us-about-gender","target":"_blank","rel":"nofollow ugc noopener","class":"note-link"}}],"text":"https://draliceevans.substack.com/p/what-the-inuit-teach-us-about-gender"},{"type":"text","text":"> "},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":"your critique of Boserup & of Alesina-Giuliano-Nunn, it is thus: the key is not that plough forces women into domesticity; breastfeeding & pregnancy push domesticity whether plough or hoe; the key is plough makes wheat land valuable. & once boys start inheriting valuable things from their (supposed) fathers, whether wheat land or animals, Big Trouble is highly likely to follow. Have I misread you?"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"AE"},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":": Exactly. It’s hard to know what motivated people to form patrilocal clans thousands of years ago. But looking at global history, I always find that valuable land –> patrilocal clans, unless it’s interrupted by the Catholic Church! The other issue with the Boserup/ Alesina hypothesis is that they think the primary driver of subordination is domesticity. Not really. The main factor shaping female labour supply is whether there’s a cult of female seclusion. That’s not entailed by patrilocal clans either"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"BD"},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":": Patrilocal clans => male inheritance => great concern for paternity => control & seclusion of women?"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"AE"},{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":": Partly, yes. But even among patrilocal clans, there’s ENORMOUS heterogeneity. Turkic, Mongols, and Kazakhs were patrilocal, and women were in a junior position, but they did not enforce seclusion. Genghis Khan organised female diplomats/ ambassadors. So Kazakhs only adopted islam superficially, and women seized job opportunities under the soviets. There was very little resistance to secularism."}]}]},"restacks":0,"reaction_count":0,"attachments":[],"name":"Brad DeLong","user_id":16879,"photo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ea5ae644-9822-4ca5-ac6b-e18c017d8fbc_1189x1208.png","user_bestseller_tier":100}}" data-component-name=“CommentPlaceholder”>

twitter.com/jim1ny_cr…","target":"_blank","rel":"noopener noreferrer nofollow","class":"note-link"}}],"text":"twitter.com/jim1ny_cr…"},{"type":"text","text":" [that] Hamas and Hezbollah are social movements that are progressive and are part of the Global Left is extremely important, but that should not stop us from being critical of certain dimensions of both movements. It doesn’t stop those of us who are interested in non-violent politics from raising the question of whether there are other options besides violence. Again, a critical and important engagement. I think it should be entered into the conversation on the left…"}]}]},{"type":"paragraph"},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":"There has long been a “debate” on the “left” between those who get a thrill out of the power and cleansing effect of indiscriminate violence, and those who think that civilization is a positive-sum enterprise wherein we seek to maximize the win primarily through persuasion. "}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":"That all Judith Butler can do in addressing this question is to vaguely allude to “certain dimensions” of fellow “leftists” Hamas and Hezbollah; and that she classifies Hamas and Hezbollah as “social movements” rather than charismatic-ideological domination gangs—those strongly suggest to me that she should have tapped out of participation in any political enterprise long ago."}]}]},"restacks":0,"reaction_count":0,"attachments":[],"name":"Brad DeLong","user_id":16879,"photo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ea5ae644-9822-4ca5-ac6b-e18c017d8fbc_1189x1208.png","user_bestseller_tier":100}}" data-component-name=“CommentPlaceholder”>