Research Catalog

Title

Enduring polygamy : plural marriage and social change in an African metropolis / Bruce Whitehouse.

Author

Whitehouse, Bruce, 1971-

Publication

New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, [2023]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xii, 221 pages : illustrations (some color); 24 cm.

Summary

"Why hasn't polygamous marriage died out in African cities, as experts once expected it would? Enduring Polygamy considers this question in one of Africa's fastest-growing cities: Bamako, the capital of Mali, where one in four wives is in a polygamous marriage. Using polygamy as a lens through which to survey sweeping changes in urban life, it offers ethnographic and demographic insights into the customs, gender norms and hierarchies, kinship structures, and laws affecting marriage, and situates polygamy within structures of inequality that shape marital options, especially for young Malian women. Through an approach of cultural relativism, the book offers an open-minded but unflinching perspective on a contested form of marriage. Without shying away from questions of patriarchy and women's oppression, it presents polygamy from the everyday vantage points of Bamako residents themselves, allowing readers to make informed judgments about it and to appreciate fully the full spectrum of human cultural diversity"--

Series Statement

Politics of marriage and gender: global issues in local contexts

Uniform Title

Politics of marriage and gender: global issues in local contexts.

Subject

• 2000-2099
• Polygyny > Mali > Bamako
• Marriage > Mali > Bamako
• Social change > Mali > Bamako
• Women > Mali > Bamako > Social conditions > 21st century
• Marriage
• Polygyny
• Social change
• Social conditions
• Women > Social conditions
• Gender identity
• Living arrangements
• Women
• Bamako (Mali) > Social conditions > 21st century
• Mali > Bamako

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Introduction: It's complicated: Polygamy and the marriage system in Bamako, Mali -- Interlude one the midnight callers -- 'Marriage is an obligation': The marital life course -- Polygamous marriage formation -- Interlude two virtual monogamy in practice -- Polygamous household dynamics -- What's culture got to do with it? Religion, gender, and power -- Marriage markets and marriage squeezes: The demographic underpinnings of polygamous marriage -- Interlude three family law, identity, and political Islam -- Marriage law, polygamy, and the Malian state -- Conclusion: The polygamy of the future.

Call Number

ReCAP 23-4821

ISBN

• 9781978831148
• 1978831145

LCCN

2022030610

OCLC

1333688660

Author

Whitehouse, Bruce, 1971- author.

Title

Enduring polygamy : plural marriage and social change in an African metropolis / Bruce Whitehouse.

Publisher

New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, [2023]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Politics of marriage and gender: global issues in local contexts

Politics of marriage and gender: global issues in local contexts.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological Term

2000-2099

Research Call Number

ReCAP 23-4821