1. The Familial Origins of European Individualism
- Author
-
MacDonald, Kevin
- Subjects
Family -- Analysis ,Individualism -- Analysis ,Economics ,Psychology and mental health ,Sociology and social work - Abstract
Marriage practices in Northwest Europe are unique among societies with intensive agriculture. Critically, married couples were freely chosen non-relatives who set up their households independently of their parents and their extended families; households typically including non- relatives and were established only after achieving economic viability. This in turn required greater planning and self-control prior to marriage, and resulted in greater husband-wife partnership than is typical when marriage is embedded within extended kinship networks (i.e., joint family structure--a form of collectivism paradigmatically occurring in the Middle East). A standard view among historians is that this marriage regime was a response to the unique context after the fall of the Roman Empire in which lords were forced to give incentives to laborers. This hypothesis is rejected for several reasons: 1. there are strong currents of individualism in Indo-European culture long predating the post-Roman period; 2. the manorial system of the post-Roman world was remarkably similar to the prevailing practices of Germanic tribes during the Roman period; 3. individualist families have several disadvantages compared to collectivist families, including later generation time, uncertain inheritance, greater likelihood of sexual assault prior to marriage in households composed of non-relatives--thus making it unlikely to be freely chosen because of incentives provided by lords. This is compatible with a theory that European individualism results from genetically based tendencies resulting in a misfit with medieval environments compared to collectivist family structure. Data are reviewed indicating that the most extreme forms of individualism occur in Scandinavian societies, implying a cline in individualism from southeast to northwest. In conclusion, an ethnically based northwest-southeast gradient is proposed as the main variable in explaining variation in family structure within Western Europe. However, viewed in broader terms-in comparison, say, to the Middle East--all of Europe, including Eastern Europe, is relatively individualistic. Keywords: Individualist family; Collectivist family; Manorial system; Indo-European culture; Germanic tribes; Extended kinship; Eugenic selection, There is a consensus among historians of the family that the family structure of Northwest Europe is unique. However, there is dispute about exactly when this family pattern can be [...]
- Published
- 2018