Polygamy: The Basics (Paperback or Softback)

Polygamy: The Basics is an accessible and engaging introduction to the kinship structure known as plural marriage or polygamy. Tailored for general readers and non-specialists, this book distils research findings from evolutionary anthropology, history, economics, political science, and cultural anthropology to survey polygamy’s place in human cultural, economic, and demographic developments from prehistory to the present. It addresses questions such as:

• How have perceptions of plural marriage have changed over time?
• Where does polygamy fit within human reproduction and family organization?
• What is the pair bond and is it universal or learned?
• Is polygamy a choice and, if so, for whom?
• Is polygamy inherently harmful?

Drawing on global case studies, it endeavors to help readers aside their own cultural prisms and preconceived notions in order to examine plural marriage in its proper complexity.

Bruce Whitehouse is Professor of Anthropology at Lehigh University, USA. He has conducted anthropological fieldwork in three African countries and is the author of two previous books, including Enduring Polygamy. His research also examines social change, politics, statecraft, and transnational migration in sub-Saharan Africa.

William Jankowiak is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. He is the author of more than 126 scholarly articles and 12 books, including 7 edited volumes. His research spans a wide range of topics, including urban China, Mormon polygamous families, and the cross-cultural anthropology of drug foods, labor, and romantic love.