I will be organizing a roundtable discussion titled “Inside the Black Box: Considerations and Concerns when Studying Rural Households” for the upcoming Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Meeting 2021. This panel will be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Date/Time: Friday March 26, 2021 | 2:00 PM – 3:45 PM
Rountable Abstract: Today, the household is widely considered the primary unit of analysis for understanding rural livelihoods, yet it remains a problematic concept in both social theory and empirical research. Intractable assumptions of households as cohesive units of (re)production and consumption often mask the diversity of intrahousehold practices and the social relations that structure rural life. Still, venturing inside this ‘black box’ presents its own set of challenges. This roundtable will offer a venue for discussing the methodological and analytical quandaries that arise when studying rural households. Panelists will raise key issues and discuss techniques they have utilized to address these concerns.
SAMANTHA KING, PhD 