Criminality and economic conditionsBonger, Willem Adriaan
General
Criminality and economic conditions
Bonger, Willem Adriaan
Crime -- Economic aspects
The relation of the sexes is sufficiently explained by the mode of
production. When these savages are on the march the woman carries the
little that they possess, erects the tent, and searches for fruit; the
man on the other hand by his natural qualities is fitted for hunting
and for the defense of the hunting ground. Hunting being the principal
resource, and in this period bodily strength being of the highest
importance, it is natural that the man should rule.
The so-called “higher hunters”, among whom we must reckon the North
American Indians of the northwest coast and some peoples of northern
Asia, have reached a higher stage of social evolution. The difference
between these and the preceding class is only quantitative, and results
from the circumstance that they have been able to settle themselves in
countries that are rich in game and fish. This permits them to be more
sedentary, to live in larger groups, and to attain a higher
development.
As with the lower hunters there is among them a division of labor
between men and women: The man hunts, fishes, and constructs the tools
that he has need of; the woman gathers roots and herbs, prepares the
food, and gives herself up to the duties of the household. Some of
these peoples are capable of producing more than they need, a fact
which occasions commerce of some importance, and produces at times a
great inequality of fortune.
At this stage of development the woman is of great use, which brings it
about that the father does not give his daughter but sells her. Since
the man, then, has bought his wife she has become his property, and he
can do with her as he wishes; her infidelity is punished with death. If
the husband has received gifts of value from his father-in-law, he is a
little limited in his power, since, if he wishes to repudiate his wife,
he is obliged to return the gifts. However repudiation is rare, since
the woman is very useful to the man and he has ordinarily paid very
dear for her. This is also why polygyny, though permitted almost
everywhere, is rare. Only the very rich can permit themselves the
luxury of more than one wife.
The position of the wife is rather better when, instead of following
her husband, he comes to live at her father’s house. This happens
sometimes when the man cannot pay the whole purchase price, sometimes
when the father-in-law is much richer than he. In this latter case the
son-in-law prefers to profit by the wealth and power of his wife’s
father, who, for his part, asks nothing better than to keep his
daughter at home, since, in this manner, instead of losing a worker
from the household he gains one by the coming of the husband.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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