Quality of Life and Prosperity in Ancient Households and Communities

Author(s):  
Michael E. Smith

This chapter proposes conceptual and methodological approaches to measure ancient quality of life and prosperity using archaeological data. For households, the author draws on Amartya Sen’s writings to measure the quality of life from two elements. First, the standard of living can be reconstructed from quantities of valuable goods. Second, the choices or capabilities of households can be measured from the diversity of goods available to households, and from their participation in external social networks. For communities, the author proposes archaeological measures of prosperity based on network concepts from the work of Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, and Elinor Ostrom. These include joint participation in collective projects, stability of residence, population growth, longevity of settlement, and resilience of external shocks. The chapter’s political-economy approach brings the archaeological study of households and communities into the broader domain of contemporary research on quality of life and prosperity.

2020 ◽  
pp. 36-48
Author(s):  
I. M. Loskutova ◽  
N. G. Romanova

This article is devoted to the application of an integrated approach in the study of the quality of life of the population of the North Ossetia. Aspects of the specifity of objective and subjective approaches are substantiated. The increasing importance of the concept of “quality of life” in the XXI century is indicated. A review of sociological studies of the level and quality of life in Russia, as well as a range of monographic works on the analyzed issues. The results of empirical sociological studies in 2014 and 2018 (a study of the quality and standard of living of the population of North Ossetia and a study of the social wellbeing of the population of North Ossetia using the methodology developed by Lapin N. I. and Belyaeva L. A.) are presented.


1985 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.L.K. Rao ◽  
Ramesh G. Tagat

The paper argues for a new role for rural marketing, namely, that of delivering a better standard of living and quality of life for the rural people. It discusses the role of conflict, corporation, and competition in the modernization of rural society brought by rural marketing. It conceptualizes rural marketing as an interactive activity in which the major participants are the government, voluntary agencies, the corporate sector, and the rural clientele, each with its distinctive activities, mode of operating, and stake.


2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
BEATRICE MORING

The aim of this article is to explore the economic status and the quality of life of widows in the Nordic past, based on the evidence contained in retirement contracts. Analysis of these contracts also shows the ways in which, and when, land and the authority invested in the headship of the household were transferred between generations in the Nordic countryside. After the early eighteenth century, retirement contracts became more detailed but these should be viewed not as a sign of tension between the retirees and their successors but as a family insurance strategy designed to protect the interests of younger siblings of the heir and his or her old parents, particularly if there was a danger of the property being acquired by a non-relative. Both the retirement contracts made by couples and those made by a widow alone generally guaranteed them an adequate standard of living in retirement. Widows were assured of an adequately heated room of their own, more generous provision of food than was available to many families, clothing and the right to continue to work, for example at spinning and milking, but to be excused heavy labour. However, when the land was to be retained by the family, in many cases there was no intention of establishing a separate household.


Author(s):  
Egor Vladimirovich Eroshin ◽  
◽  
Irina Vyacheslavovna Bogatyreva ◽  

The article considers the indicator of the standard of living of the population as an indicator of the economic characteristics of the quality of life of people, which is a complex socio-economic category. The authors of the article examined various methods for its determination and presented an analysis of the standard of living of the population of the Samara region


2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 882-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Tabani Mpofu

This study looked at the phenomenon of the quality of life (QoL) as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), which is a composite statistic used to rank countries by the level of “human development”. Measuring and determining what is QoL is not an easy task. In this study, using HDI as the yardstick for QoL, the concepts of standard of living and per capita income were examined closely in relation to the role of government in its public expenditure programmes and how these programmes in turn influenced QoL. This research question was seen as the key to addressing the phenomenon of QoL. In particular, the role of government expenditure on health and education seems to signify the commitment of a government in improving the HDI or QoL. Using data on government expenditure of South Africa for the period 1995 to 2011, the relationships amongst these variables were examined. The findings indicate that there seems to be a significant correlation between HDI and government spending on health and education as a percentage of GDP, but there seems to be of no significance to include the variable government spending on health and education as a percentage of total government spending. The findings tell us that between 1995 and 2011, government spending on education as a percentage of GDP has had a positive impact on HDI. However, government spending on health as a percentage of GDP has had a retarding effect as shown by the negative coefficient of variation. It then implies that for South Africa to realize the MDG goals and improve on the HDI, public spending on health as a percentage of GDP needs to be significantly increased.


Plural ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-144
Author(s):  
Angelo Martins Junior

This article question generic homogenising representations of ‘the migrant’ by providing an examination of the multivalent ways in which social differences contours migration processes. Migration scholars often reproduce generic homogenising typologies of ‘migrants’, such as the two opposing migrant analogies ‘from the Global South’ (‘the transnational migrant’, who flows through social networks from the Global South to the developed North, seeking economic gains) and ‘from the Global North’ (‘the lifestyle migrant’, who chooses to migrate from developed countries to places they believe offers them the potential of a better quality of life). Through the examination of the journeys of Brazilians in London, this article draws attention to the connections and contexts of both sending and receiving societies, as well as the diversity existing within the Brazilian population abroad. As is argued within this paper, such an analysis allows for better understanding of how the experiences of Brazilians in London are directly shaped by the intersection of multiple social markers, resulting in what I call ‘differentiated journeys’. Brazilians navigate different levels of constraints and constantly re-formulate their journeys due to their class, gender, nationality and documental status. This allow us to frame migratory experiences beyond generalizing and homogenising representations. The empirical research combines an 18-month ethnography in places of leisure with 33 in-depth interviews with Brazilians in London.


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