Institut für Ethnologie
Neue Veröffentlichung von Prof. Dr. Julia Pauli: "A Living Institution: Marriage in Southern Africa"
21. Januar 2026, von Christina Fastner
Prof. Dr. Julia Pauli hat einen neuen Artikel veröffentlicht:
Pauli, Julia 2025: A Living Institution: Marriage in Southern Africa. In: Adler, Marina A. and Karl Lenz (eds.) The Sociology of Families. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham: 33-51.
Abstract:
This chapter presents marriage as a unique institution in Southern Africa, highlighting its processual and aspirational character with a focus on Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. Since the 17th century, the violent racism of colonialism and apartheid reconfigured perceptions, possibilities and practices of marriage. Weddings gradually changed, combining Christian and indigenous practices and creating diverse legal, social and ritual forms as part of wider class formation processes. Emerging elites and middle classes started celebrating their weddings as status performances, and cost explosions reconfigured the expectations of what is needed to marry, making the institution less accessible, and leading to a strong decline in marriage rates. These dynamics have far-reaching consequences for notions of personhood, love, romance and kin relations. Recent demographic, sociological and anthropological work on diverse forms of partnering provides insights into why marriage remains valued and normative in the region.