The Household Succession Quandary

Abstract

Chapter 8 explores the uncertainties of household succession that arise when parents relinquish the role of enculturating their children to village life. The analysis centers on the challenges associated with arranging marriages for sons and daughters who are raised in an urban environment where they develop new ideologies about love and livelihoods, as well as the compromises that parents and their children make to ensure household succession. The chapter concludes by describing how parents are recalling some sons from monasteries with the intention that they marry and assume responsibility for running the household, an emerging trend that highlights the ability of Nubri’s residents to adapt family management strategies to a rapidly changing society.