Migrants and Strangers in an African City: Exile, Dignity, Belonging

In cities throughout Africa, local inhabitants live alongside large populations of "strangers." Bruce Whitehouse explores the condition of strangerhood for residents who have come from the West African Sahel to settle in Brazzaville, Congo. Whitehouse considers how these migrants live simultaneously inside and outside of Congolese society as merchants, as Muslims in a predominantly non-Muslim society, and as parents seeking to instill in their children the customs of their communities of origin. Migrants and Strangers in an African City challenges Pan-Africanist ideas of transnationalism and diaspora in today’s globalized world.

Politics & Social Sciences

Whitehouse, Bruce

Social Sciences

Indiana University Press

In cities throughout Africa, local inhabitants live alongside large populations of "strangers." Bruce Whitehouse explores the condition of strangerhood for residents who have come from the West African Sahel to settle in Brazzaville, Congo. Whitehouse considers how these migrants live simultaneously inside and outside of Congolese society as merchants, as Muslims in a predominantly non-Muslim society, and as parents seeking to instill in their children the customs of their communities of origin. Migrants and Strangers in an African City challenges Pan-Africanist ideas of transnationalism and diaspora in today’s globalized world.

History

Africa

<div> 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. </div>

Enduring Polygamy: Plural Marriage and Social Change in an African Metropolis (Politics of Marriage and Gender: Global Issues in Local Contexts)

Rutgers University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Whitehouse, Bruce. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Whitehouse, Bruce

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Whitehouse, Bruce. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Migrants and Strangers in an African City: Exile, Dignity, Belonging

Migrants and Strangers in an African City: Exile, Dignity, Belonging

Enduring Polygamy: Plural Marriage and Social Change in an African Metropolis (Politics of Marriage and Gender: Global Issues in Local Contexts)

Enduring Polygamy: Plural Marriage and Social Change in an African Metropolis (Politics of Marriage and Gender: Global Issues in Local Contexts)