Sociology: family, kinship and relationships Books

Book SynopsisWinner of the 2022 BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize​ This ethical and poetic ethnography analyses the upheavals to gender roles and marital relationships brought about by Somali refugee migration to the UK. Unmoored from the socio-cultural norms that made them men and women, being a refugee is described as making "everything" feel "different, mixed up, upside down." Marriage, Gender and Refugee Migration details how Somali gendered identities are contested, negotiated, and (re)produced within a framework of religious and politico-national discourses, finding that the most significant catalysts for challenging and changing harmful gender practices are a combination of the welfare system and Islamic praxis. Described as “an important and urgent monograph," this book will be a key text relevant to scholars of migration, transnational families, personal life, and gender. Written in a beautiful and accessible style, the book voices the participants with respect and compassion, and is also recommended for scholars of qualitative social research methods. Trade Review"Attentively observed and provocatively argued, this book explores the dynamic inter-relationship between culture, religion, ethnicity, and gender, and how migration remakes people’s understandings of their relationships. It is not only brilliant but beautiful too, capturing the creativity in struggles to craft places in the world. Truly inspirational reading." -- Bridget Anderson * co-editor of Citizenship and Its Others *“In this sensitively-described and expertly analysed ethnography of marriage among Somalis in Bristol, Natasha Carver shows how migration has unsettled Somali cultural norms of womanhood and masculinity. Marriage, Gender and Refugee Migration is an exemplary transnational sociology of how identities are constituted." -- Seán McLoughlin * co-editor of Diasporas: Concepts, Intersections, Identities *"An exciting insight into marriage, gender, and refugee migration." * Weekendavisen *Table of ContentsContents List of Figures List of Transcription Symbols Series Foreword by Péter Berta 1: Introduction 2: Context and Narrative: Speaking With and Speaking About 3: Atrocity Stories about Divorce 4: Personal Accounts of Relationship Breakdown 5: Being Responsible: Providing for the Family 6: Doing Responsibility: Caring for the Family 7: Somalinimo: An Existential Crisis? 8: Regendering Somaliness in the British Context 9: Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisMaking the Right Choice unravels the entangled relationship between marriage, morality, and the desire for modernity as it plays out in the context of middle-class status concerns and aspirations for upward social mobility within the Sinhala-Buddhist community in urban Sri Lanka. By focusing on individual life-histories spanning three generations, the book illuminates how narratives about a gendered self and narratives about modernity are mutually constituted and intrinsically tied to notions of agency. The book uncovers how "becoming modern" in urban Sri Lanka, rather than causing inter-generational conflict, is a collective aspiration realized through the efforts of bringing up educated and independent women capable of making "right" choices. The consequence of this collective investment is a feminist conundrum: agency does not denote the right to choose, but the duty to make the "right" choice; hence agency is experienced not as a sense of "freedom," but rather as a burden of responsibility.Trade Review"In Making the Right Choice, Abeyasekera navigates the micro-politics of class and gender in contemporary Sri Lanka with skill and grace, providing the reader with a compelling picture of the fraught territory of marriage in twenty-first century Sri Lanka. Throughout, the argument is highly original and incisive, yet written with a novelist’s eye for the telling detail."— Jonathan Spencer, co-editor of The Intimate Life of Dissent: Anthropological Perspectives "With delicate prose and thoughtfulness, Abeyasekera draws us into the heart of middle-class Colombo, where personal choices on who to love reflect back on family narratives of progress and social mobility. Offering fresh perspectives on agency and responsibility, she moves between life stories across generations to unravel how, in South Asia, marriage is inexorably tied to crafting a self that is both modern and moral."— Ammara Maqsood, author of The New Pakistani Middle Class "Asha Abeyasekera gives us exquisitely wrought portraits of three generations of women in modernizing Sri Lanka as they navigate decisions of who, when, how, and why to marry. Attending to their stories about their marriages, Abeyasekera reveals the repertoires of meaning that enable the women to produce selves that honor traditional kin obligations while embodying modern values of personal choice and self-determination."— Jeanne Marecek, co-author of Gender and Culture in Psychology: Theories and PracticesTable of ContentsContents Series Foreword by Péter Berta Introduction 1 – Sinhala Marriage Practices: Then and Now 2 – Making the ‘Right’ Choice 3 – Structuring the ‘Right’ Choice 4 – The Virtuous Self: Failed Marriages 5 – The Valued Self: Singleness 6 – The Vindicated Self: Divorce Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIndigenous Motherhood in the Academy highlights the experiences and narratives emerging from Indigenous mothers in the academy who are negotiating their roles in multiple contexts. The essays in this volume contribute to the broader higher education literature and the literature on Indigenous representation in the academy, filling a longtime gap that has excluded Indigenous women scholar voices. This book covers diverse topics such as the journey to motherhood, lessons through motherhood, acknowledging ancestors and grandparents in one’s mothering, how historical trauma and violence plague the past, and balancing mothering through the healing process. More specific to Indigenous motherhood in the academy is how culture and place impacts mothering (specifically, if Indigenous mothers are not in their traditional homelands as they raise their children), how academia impacts mothering, how mothering impacts scholarship, and how to negotiate loss and other complexities between motherhood and one’s role in the academy.Trade Review“This book on Indigenous Motherhood eloquently weaves together the beauty, strength, and resilience of those who transform academic spaces for the benefit of Indigenous students, families, and communities. This is the book I yearned for as a graduate student and Indigenous mother-scholar.” -- Jennifer Brant * University of Toronto, co-editor of 'Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada' *"Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy is a brilliantly felt and witnessed act of collective Indigenous scholarship from a fiercely honest new generation of teachers and intellectual leaders who affirm their whole selves as the heart of nurturing present and future Indigenous generations." -- Dian Million, (Tanana) * author of Therapeutic Nations: Healing in an Age of Indigenous Human Rights *“This book on Indigenous Motherhood eloquently weaves together the beauty, strength, and resilience of those who transform academic spaces for the benefit of Indigenous students, families, and communities. This is the book I yearned for as a graduate student and Indigenous mother-scholar.” -- Jennifer Brant * University of Toronto, co-editor of 'Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murder *"Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy is a brilliantly felt and witnessed act of collective Indigenous scholarship from a fiercely honest new generation of teachers and intellectual leaders who affirm their whole selves as the heart of nurturing present and future Indigenous generations." -- Dian Million, (Tanana) * author of Therapeutic Nations: Healing in an Age of Indigenous Human Rights * "A much need contribution to Indigenous scholarship, Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy weaves together rich, powerful stories of Indigenous women who have navigated through the colonized, patriarchal spaces of academia while centering their Indigenous motherhood at the core of their journeys. A very inspirational and critical read for those seeking to understand the experiences of Indigenous women in academia." -- Susana Geliga * PhD, Lakota/Taino, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Naive American Studies Program, Un *Table of ContentsIntroductionSection I: East-ThinkingAn Indigenous boy occupying the academy and the intergenerational (motherly) teachings that led him thereChristine A. Nelson (K’awaika/Diné)“She had no use for fools”: Stories of Dibé Łizhiní mothersTiffany S. Lee (Diné/Lakota)Nine Months of Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy: A Rainbow Journey From the Islands to Na’NeelzhíínLeola Tsinnijinnie-Paquin (Diné)M(othering) and the AcademySusan Faircloth (Coharie Tribe of North Carolina)My Children Are My Teachers: Lessons Learned as a Kanaka Maoli Mother-ScholarNicole Reyes (Native Hawaiian)Dreams of Hózhó Within the Womb: A Navajo Mother’s Letter to Her Newest LoveNizhoni Chow-Garcia (Diné)Section II: South-PlanningHollo Micha Oh Chash: Drawing from our Choctaw ancestors’ wisdom to decolonize motherhood within the academyMichelle Johnson-Jennings (Choctaw), Alayah Johnson-Jennings (Choctaw, Quapaw, Sac & Fox, Miami Nations), & Ahnili Johnson-Jennings (Choctaw, Quapaw, Sac & Fox, Miami Nations)Mvskoke Eckvlke (Muscogee Motherhood) in Academic SpacesDwanna L. McKay (Mvskoke)The (Time) Line in the SandMiranda Belarde-Lewis (Tlingit/Zuni)Protection and the Power of ReproductionShelly Lowe (Diné)A Glint of Decolonial Love: An Academic Mother's Meditation on Navigating and Leveraging the UniversityTria Blu Wakpa (Powhatan Descent)Honoring our Relations (Collective Stories)Section III: West-LivingWidening the Path: Reflection of Two Generations in AcademiaSymphony Oxendine (Cherokee/Choctaw) & Denise Henning (Cherokee/Choctaw)Mothers and Daughters are ForeverRenée Holt (Diné and Nimiipuu)A Journey of Indigenous Motherhood Through the Love, Loss and the P&T ProcessRobin Zape-tah-hol-ah Minthorn (Kiowa/Apache/Umatilla/Nez Perce/Assiniboine)Indigenous Motherhood in STEMOtakuye Conroy Ben (Oglala Lakota)Kuhkwany Kuchemayo ‘Aaknach, An Iipay Mother’s/Teacher’s StoryTheresa Gregor (Iipay/Yoeme)Impact of a Pandemic on Indigenous MotherhoodSection IV: North-AssuringOur Journey Through HealingSloan Woska-pi-mi Shotton (Otoe-Missouria/Iowa/Wichita/Kiowa/Cheyenne) & Heather J. Shotton (Wichita/Kiowa/Cheyenne)Motherhood, Re-ImaginedPearl Brower (Iñupiaq/Armenian/Chippewa)Weaving Fine Baskets of Resilience:Resilient Mothering in the Academy as Kanaka Nation BuildingErin Kahunawaikaʻala Wright (Native Hawaiian)Hā‘ena-i-ku‘u-poli: A Letter to My DaughterKaiwipuni Lipe (Native Hawaiian)A Hidden Cartography: Matrilinealizing the Terrain of AcademeCharlotte Davidson (Diné)Berries and Her Many Lectures: The Work of StoryworkStephanie Waterman (Onondaga/Turtle Clan)Tying The BundleNotes on Contributors

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Book SynopsisMuslim marriages have been the focus of considerable public debate in Europe and beyond, in Muslim-majority countries as well as in settings where Muslims are a minority. Most academic work has focused on how the majority Sunni Muslims conclude marriages. This volume, in contrast, focuses on Twelver Shi'a Muslims in Iran, Pakistan, Oman, Indonesia, Norway, and the Netherlands. The volume makes an original contribution to understanding the global dynamics of Shi'a marriage practices in a wide range of contexts--not only its geographical spread but also by providing a critical analysis of the socio-economic, religious, ethnic, and political discourses of each context. The book sheds light on new marriage forms presented through a bottom up approach focusing on the lived experiences of Shi'a Muslims negotiating a diverse range of relationships and forms of belonging.Trade Review"In this pioneering book, Shanneik and Moors have deftly amended the dearth of scholarly books on Shi’i cultures and traditions. The ethnographically diverse chapters brought together in this collected volume on the Global Dynamics of Shi’a Marriages engage with local practices as they are embedded within the wider contexts of migration, diaspora and transnationalism. It is a very timely and accessible book, and I highly recommend it." -- Shahla Haeri * author of The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender *"Global Dynamics of Shi’a Marriages is a fascinating addition to the emerging literature on marriage and sexuality in the Muslim world. Young people engage in 'dating cultures' facilitated by mobile phones, young women are reluctant to live with in-laws, and there is a growing desire for love-based marriages. While the authority of the older generation has been diminished, the move towards more companionate marriages in every Shi’a community still involves family negotiations over choice of partner, marital gifts, and wedding expenses." -- Janet Afary * co-editor of Iranian Romance in the Digital Age: From Arranged Marriage to White Marriage *Table of ContentsSeries Foreword by Péter Berta Introduction ANNELIES MOORS AND YAFA SHANNEIK PART ONE Gender and Generation: New Dating and Marriage Practices 1 Marriage Modifications in Aliabad: Social Change Overrides Clerical Directives MARY ELAINE HEGLAND 2 The New Marital Romance: How Bollywood, Islamic Doctrines, and Mobile Phones Dissect the Imperative of Spouse Evasion ANNA-MARIA WALTER PART TWO Dower Practices: Signifying Religion, Ethnicity, and Class 3 The Dower (Mahr) and Wedding Ceremony among the Shi‘a of Oman: Religion, Class, and Ethnicity JIHAN SAFAR 4 Mahr Iranian Style in Norway: Negotiating Gender Equality and Religious and Cultural Belonging through Transnational Shia Marriage Practices PART THREE Temporary Marriage: A Flexible and Controversial Institution 5 Mutʿa Marriage among Youth in the Non-Shi‘i Environment of Indonesia EVA F. NISA 6 Between Love and Sex, Modernity and Archaism: Iranian Students’ Discourse in the Netherlands about Sigheh SOPHIE-YVIE GIRARD 7 “Laboratory Sigheh”: The (Dis)Entanglements of Temporary Marriage and Third-Party Donation in Iran TARA ASGARILALEH AND ANNELIES MOORS Acknowledgments Notes on Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisMuslim marriages have been the focus of considerable public debate in Europe and beyond, in Muslim-majority countries as well as in settings where Muslims are a minority. Most academic work has focused on how the majority Sunni Muslims conclude marriages. This volume, in contrast, focuses on Twelver Shi'a Muslims in Iran, Pakistan, Oman, Indonesia, Norway, and the Netherlands. The volume makes an original contribution to understanding the global dynamics of Shi'a marriage practices in a wide range of contexts--not only its geographical spread but also by providing a critical analysis of the socio-economic, religious, ethnic, and political discourses of each context. The book sheds light on new marriage forms presented through a bottom up approach focusing on the lived experiences of Shi'a Muslims negotiating a diverse range of relationships and forms of belonging.Trade Review"In this pioneering book, Shanneik and Moors have deftly amended the dearth of scholarly books on Shi’i cultures and traditions. The ethnographically diverse chapters brought together in this collected volume on the Global Dynamics of Shi’a Marriages engage with local practices as they are embedded within the wider contexts of migration, diaspora and transnationalism. It is a very timely and accessible book, and I highly recommend it." -- Shahla Haeri * author of The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender *"Global Dynamics of Shi’a Marriages is a fascinating addition to the emerging literature on marriage and sexuality in the Muslim world. Young people engage in 'dating cultures' facilitated by mobile phones, young women are reluctant to live with in-laws, and there is a growing desire for love-based marriages. While the authority of the older generation has been diminished, the move towards more companionate marriages in every Shi’a community still involves family negotiations over choice of partner, marital gifts, and wedding expenses." -- Janet Afary * co-editor of Iranian Romance in the Digital Age: From Arranged Marriage to White Marriage *"In this pioneering book, Shanneik and Moors have deftly amended the dearth of scholarly books on Shi’i cultures and traditions. The ethnographically diverse chapters brought together in this collected volume on the Global Dynamics of Shi’a Marriages engage with local practices as they are embedded within the wider contexts of migration, diaspora and transnationalism. It is a very timely and accessible book, and I highly recommend it." -- Shahla Haeri * author of The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender *"Global Dynamics of Shi’a Marriages is a fascinating addition to the emerging literature on marriage and sexuality in the Muslim world. Young people engage in 'dating cultures' facilitated by mobile phones, young women are reluctant to live with in-laws, and there is a growing desire for love-based marriages. While the authority of the older generation has been diminished, the move towards more companionate marriages in every Shi’a community still involves family negotiations over choice of partner, marital gifts, and wedding expenses." -- Janet Afary * co-editor of Iranian Romance in the Digital Age: From Arranged Marriage to White Marriage *Table of ContentsSeries Foreword by Péter Berta Introduction ANNELIES MOORS AND YAFA SHANNEIK PART ONE Gender and Generation: New Dating and Marriage Practices 1 Marriage Modifications in Aliabad: Social Change Overrides Clerical Directives MARY ELAINE HEGLAND 2 The New Marital Romance: How Bollywood, Islamic Doctrines, and Mobile Phones Dissect the Imperative of Spouse Evasion ANNA-MARIA WALTER PART TWO Dower Practices: Signifying Religion, Ethnicity, and Class 3 The Dower (Mahr) and Wedding Ceremony among the Shi‘a of Oman: Religion, Class, and Ethnicity JIHAN SAFAR 4 Mahr Iranian Style in Norway: Negotiating Gender Equality and Religious and Cultural Belonging through Transnational Shia Marriage Practices PART THREE Temporary Marriage: A Flexible and Controversial Institution 5 Mutʿa Marriage among Youth in the Non-Shi‘i Environment of Indonesia EVA F. NISA 6 Between Love and Sex, Modernity and Archaism: Iranian Students’ Discourse in the Netherlands about Sigheh SOPHIE-YVIE GIRARD 7 “Laboratory Sigheh”: The (Dis)Entanglements of Temporary Marriage and Third-Party Donation in Iran TARA ASGARILALEH AND ANNELIES MOORS Acknowledgments Notes on Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisIntimate Connections dissects ideas, feelings, and practices around love, marriage, and respectability in the remote high mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan. It offers insightful perspectives from the emotional lives of Shia women and their active engagement with their husbands. These gender relations are shaped by countless factors, including embodied values of modesty and honor, vernacular fairy tales and Bollywood movies, Islamic revivalism and development initiatives. In particular, the advent of media and communication technologies has left a mark on (pre)marital relations in both South Asia and the wider Muslim world. Juxtaposing different understandings of ‘love’ reveals rich and manifold worlds of courtship, elopements, family dynamics, and more or less affectionate matches that are nowadays often initiated through SMS. Deep ethnographic accounts trace the relationships between young couples to show how Muslim women in a globalized world dynamically frame and negotiate circumstances in their lives.Trade Review"Intimate Connections is an elegant and nuanced ethnographic account of gendered intimacy as experienced by women in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Eschewing simplistic formulations such as 'love vs. arranged marriages' and 'agency vs. gendered subordination,' Anna-Maria Walter instead pushes us to consider emotions anew, in particular 'love,' as sites of embodied, ethical formation of the self, and as significant to gendered norms that shape marriage and emergent forms of conjugality." -- Attiya Ahmad * author of Everyday Conversions: Islam, Domestic Work and South Asian Migrant Women in Kuwait *"Intimate Connections is a richly ethnographic account of women’s and men’s experiences of kinship and sexuality in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, showing how young women’s changing expectations of marriage and love are reforming the institution from within." -- Katherine Lemons * author of Divorcing Traditions: Islamic Marriage Law and the Making of Indian Secularism *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Series Foreword by Péter Berta Preface and Acknowledgments Note on Transcription 1 Politics of the Sensible 2 Embodying Modest Reserve 3 Arranging Affection 4 Fearing Passion 5 Romancing Marriage Glossary Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisIslamic Divorce in the 21st Century shows the wide range of Muslim experiences in marital disputes and in seeking Islamic divorces. For Muslims, having the ability to divorce in accordance with Islamic law is of paramount importance. However, Muslim experiences of divorce practice differ tremendously. The chapters in this volume discuss Islamic divorce from West Africa to Southeast Asia, and each story explores aspects of the everyday realities of disputing and divorcing Muslim couples face in the twenty-first century. The book’s cross-cultural and comparative look at Islamic divorce indicates that Muslim divorces are impacted by global religious discourses on Islamic authority, authenticity, and gender; by global patterns of and approaches to secularity; and by global economic inequalities and attendant patterns of urbanization and migration. Studying divorce as a mode of Islamic law in practice shows us that the Islamic legal tradition is flexible, malleable, and context-dependent.Trade Review"Islamic Divorce in the 21st Century is a wonderful book in which we travel geographically and intellectually. Its importance draws on the variety of national experiences it documents in a truly comparative perspective, as well as on the scholarship of both coeditors and contributors. It is a compulsory read for everybody interested in understanding how Islam is a global phenomenon with a huge array of local declensions." -- Baudouin Dupret * author of Positive Law from the Muslim World: Jurisprudence, History, Practices *"Islamic Divorce in the 21st Century provides rich empirical data and sophisticated theoretical perspectives on the gendered complexities of kinship and marriage, divorce, inequality, and Islamic law and normativity in nine nations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. This engagingly written and compelling volume will be welcomed by scholars in various fields and has great potential for use in both undergraduate and graduate courses." -- Michael G. Peletz * author of Sharia Transformations: Cultural Politics and the Rebranding of an Islamic Judiciary *"Islamic Divorce in the 21st Century is a tour de force, offering both breadth and depth on Muslim divorce practices. In addition to presenting scholarship from rarely documented countries, this volume provides a perspective on global connections and the transformations that ensue. It is a must-read for scholars of Muslim family law." -- Arzoo Osanloo * author of The Politics of Women's Rights in Iran *"Islamic Divorce in the 21st Century is a wonderful book in which we travel geographically and intellectually. Its importance draws on the variety of national experiences it documents in a truly comparative perspective, as well as on the scholarship of both coeditors and contributors. It is a compulsory read for everybody interested in understanding how Islam is a global phenomenon with a huge array of local declensions." -- Baudouin Dupret * author of Positive Law from the Muslim World: Jurisprudence, History, Practices *"Islamic Divorce in the 21st Century provides rich empirical data and sophisticated theoretical perspectives on the gendered complexities of kinship and marriage, divorce, inequality, and Islamic law and normativity in nine nations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. This engagingly written and compelling volume will be welcomed by scholars in various fields and has great potential for use in both undergraduate and graduate courses." -- Michael G. Peletz * author of Sharia Transformations: Cultural Politics and the Rebranding of an Islamic Judiciary *"Islamic Divorce in the 21st Century is a tour de force, offering both breadth and depth on Muslim divorce practices. In addition to presenting scholarship from rarely documented countries, this volume provides a perspective on global connections and the transformations that ensue. It is a must-read for scholars of Muslim family law." -- Arzoo Osanloo * author of The Politics of Women's Rights in Iran *Table of ContentsNote on TransliterationList of AbbreviationsSeries Foreword by Péter BertaPreface (Acknowledgment)Chapter 1: Muslim Marital Disputes and Islamic Divorce Law in Twenty-First Century Practice by Erin E. Stiles and Ayang Utriza Yakin Part I : State Politics and Divorce Law: Reform and RecommendationsChapter 2: Divorce by Khul‘ in Pakistani Courts: Expanding Women’s Rights through Reconfiguring Religious Authority by Elisa Giunchi Chapter 3: Male-Initiated Divorce before the Egyptian Judiciary by Nathalie Bernard-Maugiron Chapter 4: Problems of and Possibilities for Islamic Divorce in South Africa by Fatima Essop Part II: Gendered Strategies and Judicial Responses in Marital DisputingChapter 5: Women in the Search of Sexual Pleasure: The Judicial Practices of Divorce on the Ground of Sexual Dissatisfaction within Indonesian Religious Courts by Ayang Utriza YakinChapter 6: “I Divorced Him but He Said He Has Not Divorced Me”: Gendered Perspectives on Muslim Divorce In Accra, Ghana by Fulera Issaka-Toure Chapter 7: Undoing Marriage in Lebanon. Divorce within and beyond Family Courts by Jean-Michel LandryPart III: Islamic Divorce in the Context of Global Patterns of Mobility, Upheaval, and Changing Household EconomiesChapter 8: Islamic Renewal, Muslim Divorce and Gender Relations in Mali by Dorothea Schulz and Souleymane DialloChapter 9: A ‘Much-Married Woman’ Revisited: Kinship Perspectives on the High Frequency of Divorce among Uyghurs in Southern Xinjiang, China by Rune SteenbergChapter 10: The Ends of Divorce: Marital Dispute as a Locus of Social Change in India by Katherine Lemons with Nadia HusseinAfterword: Islamic Divorce in Context and in Action: Notes from the Field and Concluding Thoughts by Erin E. Stiles with Ayang Utriza Yakin Notes on ContributorsIndex

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Book Synopsis 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 the full spectrum of human cultural diversity. Trade Review"In some wide regions, people deem polygamy a normal, natural option. In others, it’s spurned as an archaic, immoral form of oppression. But if monogamy may be human history’s exception, eyes and minds need opening to polygamy’s enduring pros, cons, and complexities. This collaboratively researched, empathic volume does it superbly." -- Parker Shipton * author of Mortgaging the Ancestors: Ideologies of Attachment in Africa *Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsSeries Foreword by Péter Berta Introduction: 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

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Book SynopsisA brief guide to the psychological research on singlehood

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisBorn in the Year of the Fire Tiger, Ann Wee moved to Singapore in 1950 to marry into a Singaporean Chinese family, entering into a new world of cultural expectations and domestic rituals. She went on to become a pioneer in Singapore’s fledging social welfare department and is often described as the founding mother of social work in Singapore. In A Tiger Remembers, she draws on her decades of experience getting to know the many shapes and forms of the Singapore family and witnessing how they transformed since the ’50s. Wee’s talent is for remembering and paying homage to the things history books often deem insignificant—things that can contain some of the most illuminating details about the day to day inner workings of families from many backgrounds, such as terms of endearment; the emotional nuance in social relations; questions of hygiene; the stories of convicts; tales of ghost wives and changeling babies; anecdotes from rural clan settlements and migrant dormitories; and the migration of families from squatter settlements into public housing. Affectionately observed and wittily narrated, with a deep appreciation of how far Singapore has come, this book brings to life generations of social change through a focus on the institution of the family.Trade Review“In narrating the stories of people and places Wee encountered in her years of cross-cultural learning in Singapore and Malaya (now Malaysia), she unfolds untold stories of our past. They will be new to many young Singaporeans today. I am certain this memoir will stimulate important conversations about our past heritage and culture.”

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