African families in a global context

The family is one of the most important institutions of African societies. Where is it going today? How is it affected by global processes, cultural and political as well as economic? How does it compare with family developments in other parts of the world? These are questions, which this report addresses. It deals with ­ the African family in a comparative global context, focusing on patriarchy, sexuality and marriage, and fertility;­ biological and social reproduction in Ghana under conditions of globalization and structural adjustment;­ Nigerian marriage relations under the impact of current conditions;­ family changes in the North (Britain) viewed from and compared with a family perspective from the South (South Africa). Göran Therborn is Director of the Swedish Collegiums for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences and University Professor of Sociology at Uppsala University, Sweden. His most recent book is Between Sex and Power. Family in the World, 1900­2000 (London, Routledge, 2004).