Oikos and Market

Self-sufficiency of the house is practiced in many parts of the world but ignored in economic theory, just as socialist collectivization is assumed to have brought household self-sufficiency to an end. The ideals of self-sufficiency, however, continue to shape economic activity in many post-socialist areas. This volume''s six comparative studies of post-socialist villages in Eastern Europe and Asia illuminate the enduring importance of the house economy, which is based not on the market but on the order of the house. These formations show that economies depend not only on the macro institutions of markets and states but also on the micro institutions of families, communities, and house economies, often in an uneasy relationship.

Self-sufficiency of the house is practiced in many parts of the world but ignored in economic theory, just as socialist collectivization is assumed to have brought household self-sufficiency to an end. The ideals of self-sufficiency, however, continue to shape economic activity in a wide range of postsocialist settings. This volume’s six comparative studies of postsocialist villages in Eastern Europe and Asia illuminate the enduring importance of the house economy, which is based not on the market but on the order of the house. These formations show that economies depend not only on the macro institutions of markets and states but also on the micro institutions of families, communities, and house economies, often in an uneasy relationship.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements

Introduction: Self-Sufficiency as Reality and as Myth
Stephen Gudeman and Chris Hann

Chapter 1. The Ideal of Self-Sufficiency and the Reality of Dependence: A Hungarian Case
Bea Vidacs

Chapter 2. How Much is Enough? Household Provisioning, Self-Sufficiency and Social Status in Rural Moldova
Jennifer R. Cash

Chapter 3. When the Household Meets the State: Ajvar Cooking and Householding in Postsocialist Macedonia
Miladina Monova

Chapter 4. Self-Sufficiency is Not Enough: Ritual Intensification and Household Economies in a Kyrgyz Village
Nathan Light

Chapter 5. “They Work in a Closed Circle”: Self-Sufficiency in House-Based Rural Tourism in the Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria
Detelina Tocheva

Chapter 6. Self-Sufficiency and “Being One’s Own Master” among Transylvanian Forest Dwellers
Monica Vasile

Notes on Contributors
Index