E
ECONOMY, HOUSEHOLD
Household economy refers to how a household obtains and uses resources. It is
often contrasted with political economy, which refers to the production,
distribution, and consumption activities of a political entity. The two are
obviously related by the demands or constraints that a political system places on
its constituent households. This entry will discuss how households directed their
economic activities and how conquered groups lived vis-à-vis the Incas of
Cuzco.
An isolated farmhouse surrounded by potato fields in the southern highlands of
Peru. Simón Quispe. TAFOS Photographic Archive/PUCP, Lima, Peru.We define household as the most common component of social subsistence.
Nevertheless, were households in Inca times comprised by a nuclear family, an
extended family, or multiple families? Given the extraordinary variety of groups