Revision summary
Household names common residence and consumption. Domestic group names who actually cooks, earns, and cares. Fortes showed the house as a cycle, not a fixed type. Goody split production from reproduction. Indian ghar studies include people the nuclear form leaves out.
Model answer
Introduction
A household is a unit of common residence and consumption. A domestic group is the set of people who run that everyday economy. They are close, but they are not the same as a family or a lineage.
Body
Distinctions
- Meyer Fortes treated the domestic group as a developmental cycle: a house expands and splits as children marry.
- Jack Goody separated production, consumption, and reproduction. A joint kitchen may feed people who belong to different lineages.
- Leela Dube and Indian village studies showed that a ghar can include servants, widows, and visiting kin whom a census ‘family’ misses.
Why it matters
- Nayar taravad, Nuer cattle camps, and urban one-room rentals all break the nuclear-family default.
- Policy that counts only the married couple undercounts care and labour.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD HH[Household hearth] --> DG[Domestic group labour] DG --> CY[Fortes developmental cycle] F[Family kin terms] --> DG
Conclusion
Household is residence-plus-hearth. Domestic group is the changing labour unit around that hearth. Family and clan are other maps.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Is a joint family a household?
It may be several hearths in one compound. Count kitchens and purses, not only surnames.
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Can a household have one person?
Yes. A solitary hearth is still a household in the residence sense.
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Family
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