Social change and sexual mores: a comparison between pre-20th-century Norway and 20th-century Botswana

This article compares pre-20th-century Norway and 20th-century Botswana--two settings separated by time and space but sharing a sharp rise in non-nuptial births. The comparison seeks to create a synergetic analytical effect by combining firsthand, experience-near field data from Botswana with solid historical analyses of bastardy in Europe. This radical comparison provides a perspective that highlights the importance of treating "culture" not as a residual category, but as an integral part of everything social. This implies that there is a need not only for a proper sociocultural contextualization of localities, but also for an analysis of extra-local power structures as fundamentally cultural, reflecting not only bureaucratic and political concerns but also values and existential perspectives.