Starvation and Famine: Cross-Cultural Codes and Some Hypothesis Tests

Abstract

This article provides a set of codes that rate the starvation and famine experiences of societies in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. The codes are used to test several theoretical generaliza tions regarding the underlying cultural causes of famine. The results indicate that several changes arising from world systems involvements increase the likelihood of famine. They suggest fur ther that the extent to which societies experience famine depends on cultural definitions of property and exchange rights. In addition, results confirm the understanding that famine is especially prone to break out in environments of chronic hunger and recurrent starvation.