The household as an analytical category: concepts and challenges

The conceptualisation of the household as a category of analysis in social, economic and anthropological research provoked vigorous scientific disputes in the 1980s. These discussions demonstrated the problematic character of concepts of the household. Nowadays, the debate about household conceptualisation has calmed down without having arrived at a definite consensus. Nevertheless, the signicficance and frequency of the use of the ‘household’ as a research category remains undiminished. Therefore, this article aims to resume the relevant discussions and revive thinking about this simultaneously problematic and fundamental category