Among the Maya of Xculoc, an isolated farming village in the
lowland forests of the Yucatan 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.
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