ABSTRACT
Mizuno (1968) is concerned with agricultural production and the family cycle. He claims that the Isan have 'multihousehold compounds' sharing the same kitchen and co-operating in agricultural production, but that this does not exist for more than one generation. A typical cycle could involve a single house with four children: the eldest son marries and leaves home; the eldest daughter marries and the son-in-law moves in; the second son marries and moves out; and the youngest daughter, the one likely to look after her parents in their old age, marries and her husband moves in and, at the same time, the second daughter and her family must move out, often relocating in the same compound if there is space. After the parents have passed away, one may be left with two houses within the same compound and the cycle starts again for each household. Mizuno claims that daughters are preferred not because land must be held by female members of a descent group, but because girls are deemed better at household chores and gentler than boys (ibid.: 852). This ignores the fact that the Isan emphasize the female side of the family in ritual contexts and women's important role is the creation of new life since the foetus is believed to grow from a blood clot within the mother's womb (Mougne 1984).
