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Enduring Polygamy explores sweeping social changes in urban Africa through the lens of plural marriage. The book offers insights into gender dynamics and the cultural, economic, and political factors affecting how, when, and why people marry. The book
offers an open-minded but unflinching perspective on a contested but resilient form of marriage.
List of contents
List of IllustrationsSeries Foreword by Péter BertaIntroduction: It's Complicated: Polygamy
and the Marriage System in Bamako, Mali
INTERLUDE ONE
The Midnight Callers
1 "Marriage Is an Obligation": The Marital Life Course
2 Polygamous Marriage Formation
INTERLUDE TWO
Virtual Monogamy in Practice
3 Polygamous Household Dynamics
4 What's Culture Got to Do with It? Religion, Gender, and Power
5 Marriage Markets and Marriage Squeezes:
The Demographic Underpinnings of Polygamous Marriage
INTERLUDE THREE
Family Law, Identity, and Political Islam
6 Marriage Law, Polygamy, and the Malian State
Conclusion: The Polygamy of the Future
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index
About the author
BRUCE WHITEHOUSE is an associate professor of anthropology at Lehigh University, where he is also affiliated with the Africana and global studies programs. He is the author of
Migrants and Strangers in an African City: Exile, Dignity, and Belonging.
Summary
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.
