Abstract
In a recent study, female dispersal in nineteenth-century Sweden has been found to correlate negatively with access to resources: women with limited access to local resources tended to migrate more frequently. In this paper I review the literature to explore whether this observed correlation was derived from a relationship in which a woman’s limited access to resources worsened her position in the marriage market and led to migration, as a strategy to improve resources and this position. Many studies within a variety of disciplines indicate that a woman’s propensity to disperse from her parish of birth variedinversely with her propensity to inherit resources. My review of the literature suggests that the less likely a woman was to inherit resources, the lower her probability of marriage, the later her expected age at marriage, and the earlier she left home, presumably to improve her resource base for marriage.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexander, R., J. Hoogland, R. Howard, K. Noonan, and P. Sherman 1979 Sexual Dimorphisms and Breeding Systems in Pinnipeds, Ungulates, Primates, and Humans. InEvolutionary Biology and Human Social Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective, N. Chagnon and W. Irons, eds. Pp. 402–435. North Scituate, Massachusetts: Duxbury Press.
Anderson, P. K. 1989Dispersal in Rodents: A Resident Fitness Hypothesis. Provo, Utah: American Society of Mammalogists.
Baker, R. 1978The Evolutionary Ecology of Animal Migration. New York. Holmes and Meier.
1981 Man and Other Vertebrates: A Common Perspective to Migration and Navigation. InAnimal Migration, D. Aidley, ed. Pp. 241–260. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bateman, A. J. 1948 Intrasexual Selection inDrosophila.Heredity 2:349–368.
Betzig, L. B. 1986Despotism and Differential Reproductive Success: A Darwinian View of Human History. Chicago: Aldine Press.
Blom, I. 1985 Family History and Women’s History: The Case of Norway. InThe Nordic Family: Perspectives on Family Research. J. Rogers and H. Norman, eds. Pp. 94–108. Essays in Social and Demographic History No 4. Uppsala, Sweden: Department of History, Uppsala University.
Borgerhoff Mulder, M. 1987 On Cultural and Reproductive Success: Kipsigis Evidence.American Anthropologist 89:617–634.
Borgerhoff Mulder, M., and M. Milton 1985 Factors Affecting Infant Care in the Kipsigis.Journal of Anthropological Research 41:231–262.
Brändström, A., and L. Tedebrand, eds. 1986Society, Health and Population during the Demographic Transition. Demographic Database, Umeå University, Report No. 4. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell International.
Carlsson, S. 1978 Unmarried Women in the Swedish Society of Estates. InChance and Change: Social and Economic Studies in Historical Demography in the Baltic Area, S. Åkerman, H. C. Johansen, and D. Gaunt, eds. Pp. 220–226. Odense, Denmark: Odense University Press.
Clarke, A. L., and B. S. Low 1992 Ecological Correlates of Dispersal in Nineteenth-century Sweden.Animal Behavior 44:677–693.
Clutton-Brock, T. H. 1991The Evolution of Parental Care. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Clutton-Brock, T. H., S. D. Albon, and F. E. Guinness 1986 Great Expectations: Maternal Dominance, Sex Ratios, and Offspring Reproductive Success in Red Deer.Animal Behavior 34:460–471.
Clutton-Brock, T. H., F. E. Guinness, and S. D. Albon 1982Red Deer: Behavior and Ecology of Two Sexes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cronk, L. 1991 Human Behavioral Ecology.Annual Review of Anthropology 20:25–53.
Darroch, A. G. 1981 Migrants in the Nineteenth Century: Figitives or Families in Motion?Journal of Family History (Fall):257–277.
Dickemann, M. 1979 The Ecology of Mating Systems in Hypergynous Dowry Societies.Social Science Information 18:163–195.
Dobson, S. F. 1982 Competition for Mates and Predominant Juvenile Male Dispersal in Mammals.Animal Behavior 30:1183–1192.
Drake, M. 1969Population and Society in Norway, 1735–1865. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Egerbladh, I. 1989 From Complex to Simple Family Households: Peasant Households in Northern Coastal Sweden, 1700–1900.Journal of Family History 14(3):241–264.
Eriksson, I., and J. Rogers 1978Rural Labor and Population Change: Social and Demographic Developments in East-central Sweden during the Nineteenth Century. Studia Historica Upsaliensia 100. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell International.
Fisher, R. A. 1958The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. New York: Dover Press.
Flinn, M. V., and B. S. Low 1986 Resource Distribution, Social Competition, and Mating Patterns in Human Societies. InEcological Aspects of Social Evolution, D. Rubenstein and R. Wrangham, eds. Pp. 217–243. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Gaunt, D. 1980 Illegitimacy in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century East Sweden. InBastardy and Its Comparative History, P. Laslett, K. Oosterveen, and R. Smith, eds. London: Edward Arnold.
Gerger, T. 1983Patterns of Jobs and Geographic Mobility. Stockholm Studies in Human Geography No. 4. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell.
Greenwood P. 1980 Mating Systems, Philopatry, and Dispersal in Birds and Mammals.Animal Behavior 28:1140–1162.
1983 Mating Systems and the Evolutionary Consequences of Dispersal. InThe Ecology of Animal Movement, I. Swingland and P. Greenwood, eds. Pp. 116–131. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Hajnal, J. 1965 European Marriage Patterns in Perspective. InPopulation in History: Essays in Historical Demography, D. V. Glass and D. E. C. Eversley, eds. Pp. 101–143. London: Edward Arnold.
Hames, R. B. 1988 The Allocation of Parental Care among the Ye’kwana. InHuman Reproductive Behavior: A Darwinian Perspective, L. Betzig, M. Borgerhoff Mulder, and P. Turke, eds. Pp. 237–251. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Harbison, S. F. 1981 Family Structure and Family Strategy in Migration Decision Making. InMigration Decision Making, G. F. De Jong and R. W. Gardner, eds. Pp. 225–251. New York: Pergamon Press.
Hartung, J. 1982 Polygyny and Inheritance of Wealth.Current Anthropology 23:1–12.
Hill, J. 1984 Prestige and Reproductive Success in Man.Ethology and Sociobiology 5:77–95.
Hofsten, E., and H. Lundström 1976Swedish Population History: Main Trends from 1750 to 1970. Stockholm: National Central Bureau of Statistics.
Hörsell, A. 1982 The Economic Realities of Marriage: The “Free City” of Eskilstuna at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. InMarriage and Fertility: Local Patterns in Pre-industrial Sweden, Finland and Norway, J. Rogers, ed. Pp. 27–38. Essays in Social and Demographic History No. 3. Uppsala, Sweden: Department of History, Uppsala University.
Hrdy, S. B., and G. C. Williams 1983 Behavioral Biology and the Double Standard. InSocial Behavior of Female Vertebrates, S. K. Wasser, ed. Pp. 3–17. New York: Academic Press.
Inger, G. 1980Svensk Rättshistoria. Lund, Sweden: Liber Laromedel.
Johnson, C. N. 1986 Sex-biased Philopatry and Dispersal in Mammals.Oecologia 69:626–627.
Jörberg, L. 1975 Structural Change and Economic Growth in Nineteenth-century Sweden. InSweden’s Development from Poverty to Affluence, 1750–1970, S. Koblik, ed. Pp. 92–135. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Knodel, J. 1977 Family Limitation and the Fertility Transition: Evidence from the Age Patterns of Fertility in Europe and Asia.Population Studies 31(2):219–249.
Koenig, W. D., and R. L. Mumme 1987Population Ecology of the Cooperatively Breeding Acorn Woodpecker. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Lancaster, J. B. 1989 Women in Biosocial Perspective. InGender and Anthropology, S. Morgan, ed. Pp. 95–115. Washington, D.C.: American Anthropological Association.
1991 A Feminist and Evolutionary Biologist Looks at Women.Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 34:1–11.
Le Boeuf, B., and J. Reiter 1988 Lifetime Reproductive Success in Northern Elephant Seals. InReproductive Success: Studies of Individual Variation in Contrasting Breeding Systems, T. H. Clutton-Brock, ed. Pp. 344–362. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lewis, J., and K. Lockridge 1988 “Sally Has Been Sick”: Pregnancy and Family Limitation among Virginia Gentry Women, 1780–1830.Journal of Social History 22:5–19.
Liberg, O. 1985 Sex-biased Philopatry and Dispersal in Birds and Mammals: the Oedipus Hypothesis.American Naturalist 126:129–135.
Lockridge, K. A. 1983The Fertility Transition in Sweden: A Preliminary Look at Smaller Geographic Units, 1855–1890. Demographic Database Report No. 3. Umeå, Sweden: Umeå University.
Löfgren, O. 1978 The Potato People. InChance and Change: Social and Economic Studies in Historical Demography in the Baltic Area, S. Åkerman, H. C. Johansen, and D. Gaunt, eds. Pp. 95–106. Odense, Denmark: Odense University Press.
Lo-Johannsson, F. a. I. 1981Sveriges Rikes Lag: Gillard och Antagen Parisdagen Ar, 1734, faksimilutgava. Malmo, Sweden: Giulunds.
Low, B. S. 1989 Occupational Status and Reproductive Behavior in Nineteenth-Century Sweden: Locknevi Parish.Social Biology 36:82–101.
1990a Sex, Power, and Resources: Ecological and Social Correlates of Sex Differences.International Journal of Contemporary Sociology 27:45–71.
1990b Occupational Status, Land Ownership, and Reproductive Behavior in Nineteenth-century Sweden: Tuna Parish.American Anthropologist 92:115–126.
1991 Reproductive Life in Nineteenth-century Sweden: An Evolutionary Perspective on Demographic Phenomena.Ethology and Sociobiology 12:411–448.
1993 Ecological Demography: A Synthetic Focus in Evolutionary Anthropology.Evolutionary Anthropology 1(5):177–187.
Low, B. S., and A. L. Clarke 1991 Family Patterns in 19th-century Sweden: Impact of Occupational Status and Land Ownership.Journal of Family History 16:117–138.
1992 Resources and the Life-course: Patterns through the Demographic Transition.Ethology and Sociobiology 13:463–494.
Low, B. S., A. L. Clarke, and K. A. Lockridge 1992 Toward an Ecological Demography.Population and Development Review 18:1–31.
Martinius, S. 1967Befolningsrörlighet under industrialismens inledningssked i Sverige. Göteborg, Sweden: Meddelanded Från Ekonomisk Historiska Institutionen Vid Göteborgs Universitet.
Maynard Smith, J. 1977 Parental Investment—A Prospective Analysis.Animal Behavior 25:1–9.
Mitchell, J. C. 1969 Structural Plurality, Urbanization, and Labour Circulation in Southern Rhodesia. InMigration, J. A. Jackson, ed. Pp. 151–181. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Modrzewska, K., and J. A. Böök 1979 Genetical Investigations in a North-Swedish Isolate. InTime, Space and Man: Essays on Microdemography, J. Sundin and E. Söderlund, eds. Pp. 45–48. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell International.
Mosk, C. 1983Patriarchy and Fertility: Japan and Sweden, 1880–1960. New York: Academic Press.
Nilsson, T., H. Norman, and J. Rogers 1980 Family Building and Family Planning in Pre-industrial Sweden. InFamily Building and Family Planning in Pre-industrial Societies, J. Rogers, ed. Pp. 32–40. Family History Group, Department of History, University of Uppsala Report No. 1. Uppsala, Sweden: Reprocentralen, HSC.
Norberg, A. 1980Sagarnas ö: Alnö och industrialiseringen 1860–1910. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell.
Norberg, A., and S. Åkerman 1973 Migration and the Building of Families: Studies on the Rise of the Lumber Industry in Sweden. InAristocrats, Farmers, Proletarians: Essays in Swedish Demographic History, K. Ågren, D. Gaunt, I. Eriksson, J. Rogers, A. Norberg, and S. Åkerman, eds. Pp. 88–119. Uppsala, Sweden: Almqvist and Wiksell.
Norberg, A., and M. Rolén 1979 Migration and Marriage. InTime, Space, and Man: Essays on Microdemography, J. Sundin and E. Söderlund, eds. Pp. 133–135. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell.
Norman, H., and J. Rogers 1985 Marriage and Reproduction in a Changing Society: Sweden, 1750–1950. InThe Nordic Family: Perspectives on Family Research, J. Rogers and H. Norman, eds. Pp. 43–59. Essays in Social and Demographic History No. 4. Uppsala, Sweden: Department of History, Uppsala University.
Norman, H., and H. Runblom 1988Transatlantic Connections: Nordic Migration to the New World after 1800. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Norton, S. 1979 Marital Migration in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the Colonial and Early Federal Periods. InStudies in American Historical Demography, M. Vinovskis, ed. Pp. 147–159. New York: Academic Press.
Ostergren, R. C. 1988A Community Transplanted: The Trans-Atlantic Experience of a Swedish Immigrant Settlement in the Upper Middle West, 1835–1915. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Ovrelid, A. 1982 The Necessity of Marriage: The Case of Sunnmore During the Nineteenth Century. InMarriage and Fertility: Local Patterns in Pre-industrial Sweden, Finland and Norway, J. Rogers, ed. Pp. 1–26. Essays in Social and Demographic History No. 3. Uppsala, Sweden: Department of History, Uppsala University.
Parker, G. A., R. R. Baker, and V. C. F. Smith 1972 The Origin and Evolution of Gamete Dimorphism and the Male-Female Phenomenon.Journal of Theoretical Biology 36:529–553.
Pusey, A., and C. Packer 1987 Dispersal and Philopatry. InPrimate Societies, B. Smuts, D. Cheney, R. Seyfarth, R. Wrangham, and T. Struhsaker, eds. Pp. 250–266. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Røskaft, E., A. Wara, and Å. Viken 1992 Reproductive Success in Relation to Resource Access and Parental Age in a Small Norwegian Farming Parish during the Period 1700–1900.Ethology and Sociobiology 13:443–461
Saugstad, L. F., and Ø. Ødegard 1978 Marriage Pattern and Kinship in Pre-industrial and Present-day Norway. InChance and Change: Social and Economic Studies in Historical Demography in the Baltic Area, S. Åkerman, H. C. Johansen, and D. Gaunt, eds. Pp. 84–94. Odense, Denmark: Odense University Press.
Shields, S. A. 1980 Nineteenth-century Evolutionary Theory and Male Scientific Bias. InSociobiology: Beyond Nature/Nurture?, G. W. Barlow and J. Silverberg, eds. Pp. 489–502. Boulder: Westview Press.
Shields, W. 1987 Dispersal and Mating Systems: Investigating Their Causal Connections. InMammalian Dispersal Patterns, B. Chepko-Sade and Z. T. Halpin, eds. Pp. 3–24. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sogner, S. 1986 Changing Marriage Patterns: A Commentary on Three Papers Submitted to the Round Table Session “The Family in History,” 16th International Congress of Historical Sciences (Stuttgart, 1985). InThe Nordic Family, II: Perspectives on Family Research, J. Rogers, ed. Pp. 21–35. Essays in Social and Demographic History No. 5. Uppsala, Sweden: Department of History, Uppsala University.
Stacey, P. B., and W. D. Koenig, eds. 1990Cooperative Breeding in Birds: Long-term Studies of Ecology and Behavior. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Strömholm, S. 1981An Introduction to Swedish Law. Stockholm: Norstedt and Forlag.
Sundin, J. 1989 Family Building in Paternalistic Proto-industries: A Cohort Study from Nineteenth-centruy Swedish Iron Foundries.Journal of Family History 14:265–289.
1990 Environmental and Other Factors in Health Improvement Explaining Increased Survival Rates in 19th Century Sweden. InSociety, Environment and Health in Low-Income Countries, E. Nordberg and D. Finer, eds. Pp. 55–70. Stockholm
Sundin, J., and L. Tedebrand 1981 Swedish Blacksmiths in the Nineteenth Century: Individual and Collective Life Histories. InTradition and Transition: Studies in Microdemography and Social Change, A. Brändström and J. Sundin, eds. Pp. 161–186. Demographic Data Base Report No. 2. Umeå, Sweden: Umeå University.
Sundt, E. 1980On Marriage in Norway, Michael Drake, trans. First published in Norwegian in 1855. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thomas, D. S. 1941Social and Economic Aspects of Swedish Population Movements: 1750–1933. New York: Macmillan.
Trivers, R. L. 1972 Parental Investment and Sexual Selection. InSexual Selection and the Descent of Man, B. Campbell, ed. Pp. 136–179. Chicago: Aldine.
Turke, P. 1988 Helpers at the Nest: Childcare Networks on Ifaluk. InHuman Reproductive Behavior: A Darwinian Perspective, L. Betzig, M. Borgerhoff Mulder, and P. Turke, eds. Pp. 173–188. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Utterström, G. 1957Jordbrukets Arbetare den Svenska Arbetarklassens Historia. Stockholm: Tilden.
Wasser, S. K., and M. L. Waterhouse 1983 The Establishment and Maintenance of Sex Biases. InSocial Behavior of Female Vertebrates, S. K. Wasser, ed. Pp. 19–35. New York: Academic Press.
Wester, H. 1977Innovationer i Befolkningsrörligheten. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell.
Williams, G. C. 1966Adaptation and Natural Selection. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was funded in part by the Population and Environment Dynamics Program and by the Evolution and Human Behavior Program, University of Michigan.
Alice L. Clarke is a doctoral candidate in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her dissertation research examines the ecology of human dispersal in nineteenth-century Sweden. Her broader research interests include the ecological basis of human demography and resource use.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Clarke, A.L. Women, resources, and dispersal in nineteenth-century Sweden. Human Nature 4, 109–135 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02734113
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02734113