Book

Sociocultural change in a Scottish crofting township

University MicrofilmsAnn Arbor, Mich. • Published In 1973 • Pages:

By: Parman, Susan.

Abstract
This dissertation is an anthropological study of Shawbost, a township in northwest Lewis. Shawbost has gone from being '…a relatively self-sufficient economic unit' practicing extensive cultivation of marginal land, to one dependent on the larger society for goods and services (p. 185). The township is viewed as a 'social boundary system,' whose institutions maintain its distinctiveness from British society to which it is so indispensably tied. The importance of both the church and liquor as foci of social groups is discussed. Fishing, crofting, and weaving are viewed as strategies ('occupational pluralism') to cope with the economic instability of the island. Personal histories compose a major source of the data. There is also information on interpersonal relations.
Subjects
Life history materials
History
Sociocultural trends
Pastoral activities
Alcoholic beverages
Textile industries
Real property
Marriage
Community structure
Territorial hierarchy
Towns
Death
Congregations
Organized ceremonial
culture
Highland Scots
HRAF PubDate
1995
Region
Europe
Sub Region
British Isles
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Martin Malone ; John Beierle
Field Date
1970-1971
Coverage Date
not specified
Coverage Place
Shawbost, Isle of Lewis and Harris, Scotland
Notes
Susan Morrissett Parman
UM 72-26,459
Includes bibliography
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Rice University, 1972
LCSH
Highlands (Scotland)