Plural Marriage for Our Times

by Kilbride, Philip L.

• ISBN13: 9780897893152
• ISBN10: 0897893158
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-10-30
• Publisher: Praeger Pub Text

Summary

Polygyny, or one man having several wives, is the preferred marriage pattern in most parts of the nonwestern world although most men cannot afford more than one wife. Polyandry, in which one woman has more than one husband, is quite rare in its classic form. Various types of plural marriage such as these are surfacing in western countries as viable alternatives and positive options to economic and spiritual crisis. Kilbride explores these new varieties of "family" as he finds them in the United States among Mormons, African-Americans, and New Age spiritual communes. His comparisons with European and African practices shed light on the renewed possibility of security and caregiving for our dependent generation who are at risk and who are suffering from fractured family relationships around the globe.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Values in the United States	1	(12)
The American Family	13	(16)
Marriage and the Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective	29	(20)
Plural Marriage as Sin: Euroamerican Asceticism in Historical Perspective	49	(18)
The Principle: Celestial Marriage among the Mormons	67	(16)
The Family Reinvented: Euroamerican Feminism	83	(10)
Crisis Polygyny: Man-Sharing in the African-American Community	93	(12)
African Polygyny: Traditional Patterns and Contemporary Changes	105	(12)
Plural Marriage as a Reinvented Option: Theoretical Reflection	117	(12)
Bibliography	129	(8)
Index	137