on the theory and measurement of domestic labor intensity

Abstract

This paper describes increasing labor intensification as an adaptive strategy in domestic production. Historical literature on European peasants and empirical data from an Alpine village support the proposition that domestic groups prolong their survival as peasants in industrial societies by substituting more labor‐intensive products for the previous, less labor‐intensive ones. This view contrasts with the theory that the domestic group fails to intensify labor when it needs to do so. The latter position, as it is presented by Sahlins, is shown to be the result of an underestimation of domestic labor Intensity.