An Ethnographic Exploration of Son Preference and Inheritance Practices in Montenegro

Montenegro is one of the 10 countries in the world with the most imbalanced sex ratio at birth, pointing to the existence of son preference in Montenegrin society. While, over the last decade, international and local organizations have raised awareness of this issue, empirical studies about this phe...

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Main Author: Kiščenko Diāna
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2021-05-01
Series:Comparative Southeast European Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2021-2003
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author Kiščenko Diāna
author_facet Kiščenko Diāna
author_sort Kiščenko Diāna
collection DOAJ
description Montenegro is one of the 10 countries in the world with the most imbalanced sex ratio at birth, pointing to the existence of son preference in Montenegrin society. While, over the last decade, international and local organizations have raised awareness of this issue, empirical studies about this phenomenon in Montenegro are scarce. The author conducts an ethnographic exploration into women’s experience of son preference in central Montenegro by presenting their personal and intimate perspective. The resulting paper suggests that son preference is shaped by and manifests through the inheritance practice of property being passed on to the male heir. Through her analysis, the author demonstrates how ideas about gender roles, family planning, housing and inheritance strategies swing back and forth between ‘traditional’ and ‘modern,’ ‘backward’ and ‘progressive.’
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series Comparative Southeast European Studies
spelling doaj-art-281df60d6f4346e081790d08a140ebfc2025-08-20T01:47:42ZengDe GruyterComparative Southeast European Studies2701-81992701-82022021-05-01691698810.1515/soeu-2021-2003An Ethnographic Exploration of Son Preference and Inheritance Practices in MontenegroKiščenko Diāna0Rīga Stradiņš University, Department of Communication, Rīga, LatviaMontenegro is one of the 10 countries in the world with the most imbalanced sex ratio at birth, pointing to the existence of son preference in Montenegrin society. While, over the last decade, international and local organizations have raised awareness of this issue, empirical studies about this phenomenon in Montenegro are scarce. The author conducts an ethnographic exploration into women’s experience of son preference in central Montenegro by presenting their personal and intimate perspective. The resulting paper suggests that son preference is shaped by and manifests through the inheritance practice of property being passed on to the male heir. Through her analysis, the author demonstrates how ideas about gender roles, family planning, housing and inheritance strategies swing back and forth between ‘traditional’ and ‘modern,’ ‘backward’ and ‘progressive.’https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2021-2003son preferencesex-selective abortioninheritancemontenegroethnography
spellingShingle Kiščenko Diāna
An Ethnographic Exploration of Son Preference and Inheritance Practices in Montenegro
Comparative Southeast European Studies
son preference
sex-selective abortion
inheritance
montenegro
ethnography
title An Ethnographic Exploration of Son Preference and Inheritance Practices in Montenegro
title_full An Ethnographic Exploration of Son Preference and Inheritance Practices in Montenegro
title_fullStr An Ethnographic Exploration of Son Preference and Inheritance Practices in Montenegro
title_full_unstemmed An Ethnographic Exploration of Son Preference and Inheritance Practices in Montenegro
title_short An Ethnographic Exploration of Son Preference and Inheritance Practices in Montenegro
title_sort ethnographic exploration of son preference and inheritance practices in montenegro
topic son preference
sex-selective abortion
inheritance
montenegro
ethnography
url https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2021-2003
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