Scholarlink

<p>The origins and function of dowry have been debated since the 1970s, leading to two hypotheses: the compensatory hypothesis and the inheritance hypothesis. In this article, we suggest to redefine dowry on the basis of both a legal and an economic characterization. We show, using Testart et al. (2002) and ethnographic data on hunter-gatherer societies of the Northwest Coast, that these societies can be considered to have practiced dowry. The inclusion of these societies in the group of dowry societies has important consequences for the analysis of the origin and function of this transaction. We propose here an economic and ecological model of its origin and function which shows that this marriage transaction is a double compensatory gift (gift of a daughter, gift of wealth) aimed at encouraging families to integrate an unproductive member into the domestic unit (whether this unproductivity is real or perceived). Dowry thus appears in societies where the articulation of the gender division of labor and particular ecological or economic conditions cause women’s contribution to the production of raw food goods to fall below a minimum threshold relative to men's economic strategies, adding new elements to the compensatory hypothesis.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Brideprice or Dowry? How the North-West Coast opens the way to a Social and Ecological Explanation of the Origin of Dowry

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月7日

查看全文
  • Rayan Dequin,
  • Maxence Claude

摘要

The origins and function of dowry have been debated since the 1970s, leading to two hypotheses: the compensatory hypothesis and the inheritance hypothesis. In this article, we suggest to redefine dowry on the basis of both a legal and an economic characterization. We show, using Testart et al. (2002) and ethnographic data on hunter-gatherer societies of the Northwest Coast, that these societies can be considered to have practiced dowry. The inclusion of these societies in the group of dowry societies has important consequences for the analysis of the origin and function of this transaction. We propose here an economic and ecological model of its origin and function which shows that this marriage transaction is a double compensatory gift (gift of a daughter, gift of wealth) aimed at encouraging families to integrate an unproductive member into the domestic unit (whether this unproductivity is real or perceived). Dowry thus appears in societies where the articulation of the gender division of labor and particular ecological or economic conditions cause women’s contribution to the production of raw food goods to fall below a minimum threshold relative to men's economic strategies, adding new elements to the compensatory hypothesis.