The urban household in Russia and the Soviet Union, 1900–2000: Patterns of family formation in a turbulent century

Starting from census data on co-residence and household composition, the authors analyse principles of family organisation and family formation in twentieth-century urban Russia and the Soviet Union. The article uses an adapted version of the classification of households developed by Peter Laslett and Eugene Hammel to study variation in household structure for successive population censuses. Changes in this variation between cross-sections are explained with the help of additional quantitative and qualitative data and are linked to the fundamental demographic, social and economic shifts which took place in Russian society in the course of the twentieth century. The article finds a family system characterised by a tendency towards nuclear family formation, but incorporating a fairly stable element of household extension. Co-residence of three generations was both an answer to a perennial housing problem and offered important advantages in the sphere of childcare and care for the elderly. Variation and fluctuation in household structure are found to be most pronounced during the turbulent first half of the century. After a period of stability during the post-war decades of Soviet rule, post-Soviet transformations provoke new changes.     

Nationalism and family ideology: The case of Lithuania at the turn of the 20th century

At the turn of the 20th century, many European countries paid increasing attention to the family as a social institution. The interest itself was closely related to the rise of nationalism in Europe, and consequently, the family was supposed to serve its goals. Similar to German, Italian or French nationalists, Lithuanian-speaking intelligentsia were aware of the importance of the family in developing a strong nation. Nevertheless, unlike Westerners, the Lithuanian nationalists did not connect the family ideology with pronatalistic discourse. Lithuanian family ideology was not focused on procreation as its main goal. Only a nationally conscious wife and children raised in the Lithuanian spirit were considered to be the most solid base for a strong nation.     

Nationalism and family ideology: The case of Lithuania at the turn of the 20th century

At the turn of the 20th century, many European countries paid increasing attention to the family as a social institution. The interest itself was closely related to the rise of nationalism in Europe, and consequently, the family was supposed to serve its goals. Similar to German, Italian or French nationalists, Lithuanian-speaking intelligentsia were aware of the importance of the family in developing a strong nation. Nevertheless, unlike Westerners, the Lithuanian nationalists did not connect the family ideology with pronatalistic discourse. Lithuanian family ideology was not focused on procreation as its main goal. Only a nationally conscious wife and children raised in the Lithuanian spirit were considered to be the most solid base for a strong nation.     

Marriage and household in the Belgrade elite at the beginning of the 20th century: The Novaković family

After centuries of Ottoman dominance, the emergence of a Christian elite in 19th century Serbia was a new phenomenon. The princedom's administrative, court and military staff mostly assembled Serbians from both Ottoman and Habsburg territories, joined by Tsintsar (Aromunian), German, and other minorities. This staff grew into a small urban upper class until 1900, presenting itself in a gentrified, Western-oriented, but nationally conscious manner. This article explores its marriage and household patterns in a case study. It is based on the rich collection of family letters preserved in the estate of former prime minister Stojan Novaković.     

Criminology and superstition at the turn of the 19th century

Criminology, which institutionalised at university level at the turn of the 19th century, was intensively engaged in the exploration of superstition. Criminologists investigated the various phenomena of superstition and the criminal behaviour resulting from it. They discovered bizarre (real or imagined) worlds of thought and mentalities, which they subjected to a rationalistic regime of interpretation in order to arrive at a better understanding of offences and crimes related to superstition. However, they sometimes also considered the use of occultist practices such as telepathy and clairvoyance to solve criminal cases. As a motive for committing homicide superstition gradually became less relevant in the course of the 19th century. Around 1900, superstition was accepted as a plausible explanation in this context only if a psychopathic form of superstition was involved. In the 20th century, superstition was no longer regarded as an explanans but an explanandum.     

Criminal superstition, pregnancy and infants at the turn of the 19th century

Around 1900, various crimes were still caused by criminal superstition. Criminologists like Hans Gross, Albert Hellwig and August L?wenstimm were engaged in the exploration of this topic aiming at the complete explanation of criminal behaviour linked to superstition. Crimes against pregnant women and infants are particularly good examples to illustrate the problems arising from crimes motivated by superstition. When assessing superstition under scientific and legal aspects, the criminologists applied different approaches, although positivistic rationalization was the most common tendency. In the forensic and legal evaluation of crimes related to superstition the problematical questions were whether the perpetrator was criminally responsible and how the offence was to be legally qualified. In many cases, criminals motivated by superstition were treated with more lenience.     

Legal restrictions on marriage: Marriage and inequality in the Austrian Tyrol during the nineteenth century

Under the legal restrictions on marriage in the Tyrol and Vorarlberg region of Austria between 1820 and 1920, members of the lower classes could marry only with the prior consent of the village authorities. Local and provincial politicians justified the necessity of these laws on the basis of the overpopulation and widespread impoverishment, which, they alleged, had resulted from the rise in lower-class marriages since the onset of industrialization. An analysis of the background and objectives of these legal interventions into marital behavior, however, reveals a different picture in regard to their effect and their effectiveness. The limitations on marriage affected life most profoundly in precisely those areas where people already tended to marry less often and later in life. Where changes in marital behavior did occur, they did not conflict with traditional behavior but rather resulted from the adaptation of the latter to altered living and working conditions. Thus it was material considerations that led the group of new wage-earners to delay or even forego marriage. The analysis shows that the limitations on marriage were directed less against the supposed causes of impoverishment than towards the continuation of social inequality in marriage and the stabilization of the status quo.     

Marriage,work, and social reproduction in one area of southern Europe at the end of the 18th century: Lorca (1797)

In this article, the process of social reproduction has been analyzed in Lorca, a municipality in the western Mediterranean region of Murcia (Spain) at the end of the 18th century. An exhaustive subset of the data from the local Godoy's census (1797) was used consisting of 29,875 individuals living in a total of 7566 households. This population was distributed between the town, the Huerta (the Murcian irrigated market garden community), and the countryside. Results confirmed, on the one hand, that a direct relationship existed between higher social status and size of household, with a higher number of older children in the households of land-owning farmers than of tenant farmers or day workers. More children in higher status households indicate that children left home later, and therefore inheritance problems rose, which influenced social reproduction within these groups. Spatially, a clear division can be found between the countryside with more male work-hands and a higher index of male activity and the Huerta with a certain female dominance.     

Marriage,work, and social reproduction in one area of southern Europe at the end of the 18th century: Lorca (1797)

In this article, the process of social reproduction has been analyzed in Lorca, a municipality in the western Mediterranean region of Murcia (Spain) at the end of the 18th century. An exhaustive subset of the data from the local Godoy's census (1797) was used consisting of 29,875 individuals living in a total of 7566 households. This population was distributed between the town, the Huerta (the Murcian irrigated market garden community), and the countryside. Results confirmed, on the one hand, that a direct relationship existed between higher social status and size of household, with a higher number of older children in the households of land-owning farmers than of tenant farmers or day workers. More children in higher status households indicate that children left home later, and therefore inheritance problems rose, which influenced social reproduction within these groups. Spatially, a clear division can be found between the countryside with more male work-hands and a higher index of male activity and the Huerta with a certain female dominance.     

A century (plus) of parenthood: Changes in living with children, 1880–1990

This paper summarizes the broad foundations of the changing nature of parenthood by examining trends in coresidence with children under age 15. Our study uses data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples (IPUMS) to provide a portrait of demographic parenthood in the US over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In describing changes in parenthood over the past 110 years, we distinguish between those living with own children and those living with other children. We focus in particular on changes in gender patterns of coresidential parenthood and changes in the likelihood that divorced men and women live with children. We also examine the impact of the baby boom on parenting. Our findings support a recasting of ongoing discussions of the parental roles of American men and women by shifting the historical demographic focus from biological transitions to the social aspects of parenting.