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Market integration reduces kin density in women's ego-networks in rural Poland.

ABSTRACT: It is widely assumed that as populations become more market integrated the 'inner circles' of people's social networks become less densely connected and family-oriented. This 'loosening' of kin networks may fundamentally alter the social dynamics of reproduction, facilitating demographic transitions to low fertility. Few data exist to test this hypothesis. Previous research in urbanized populations has not explicitly measured kin density in ego-networks, nor assessed how market integration influences network structure at different levels of aggregation. Here I analyze the ego-networks of ~2000 women in 22 rural Polish communities transitioning from subsistence farming to market-dependence. I compare how ego-network size, density and kin density co-vary with household and community-level market integration. Market integration is associated with less kin-dense networks, but not necessarily less dense ones, and is unrelated to network size. Declining kin density during economic transitions may be a critical mechanism for the broader cultural transmission of low fertility values.

SUBMITTER: Colleran H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6959218 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Market integration reduces kin density in women's ego-networks in rural Poland.

Colleran Heidi H

Nature communications 20200114 1

It is widely assumed that as populations become more market integrated the 'inner circles' of people's social networks become less densely connected and family-oriented. This 'loosening' of kin networks may fundamentally alter the social dynamics of reproduction, facilitating demographic transitions to low fertility. Few data exist to test this hypothesis. Previous research in urbanized populations has not explicitly measured kin density in ego-networks, nor assessed how market integration influ ...[more]

PMID: 31937789

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Project description:BackgroundWomen in rural Bangladesh face multiple, inter-related challenges including food insecurity, malnutrition, and low levels of empowerment. We aimed to investigate the pathway towards empowerment experienced by women participating in a three-year nutrition-sensitive homestead food production (HFP) program, which was evaluated through the Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition (FAARM) cluster-randomized controlled trial.MethodsWe conducted 44 in-depth interviews and 12 focus group discussions with men and women in both intervention and control communities of the FAARM study site in rural, north-eastern Bangladesh. Using a modified grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis, we developed a framework to explain the pathway towards empowerment among HFP program participants.ResultsThe analysis and resulting framework identified seven steps towards empowerment: 1) receiving training and materials; 2) establishing home gardens and rearing poultry; 3) experiencing initial success with food production; 4) generating social or financial resources; 5) expanding agency in household decision-making; 6) producing renewable resources (e.g. farm produce) and social resources; and 7) sustaining empowerment. The most meaningful improvements in empowerment occurred among participants who were able to produce food beyond what was needed for household consumption and were able to successfully leverage these surplus resources to gain higher bargaining power in their household. Additionally, women used negotiation skills with their husbands, fostered social support networks with other women, and developed increased self-efficacy and motivation. Meanwhile, the least empowered participants lacked support in critical areas, such as support from their spouses, social support networks, or sufficient space or time to produce enough food to meaningfully increase their contribution and therefore bargaining power within their household.ConclusionsThis study developed a novel framework to describe a pathway to empowerment among female participants in an HFP intervention, as implemented in the FAARM trial. These results have implications for the design of future nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions, which should prioritize opportunities to increase empowerment and mitigate the barriers identified in our study.Trial registrationFAARM is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02505711 ).

Dataset Information

Market integration reduces kin density in women's ego-networks in rural Poland.

Publications

Market integration reduces kin density in women's ego-networks in rural Poland.

Similar Datasets

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