THOMAS S. WEISNER is Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles. CANDICE BRADLEY is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Lawrence University at Appleton, Wisconsin. PHILIP L. KILBRIDE is Professor of Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College.

Texte du rabat

African families face serious crises today. They are under economic, demographic and political pressures of all kinds; yet, families are not mere hapless victims of global change. They are proactive, resilient agents and creators of change. This volume studies global and national transformation from the point of view of families in local communities. Contributors are from Africa, North America, and Europe, and provide socially and historically based, culturally rich, multigenerational, and comparative perspectives on family life in Africa today. The essays explore contemporary change in African families, and consequences for children and parents, the elderly, gender roles, moral values, fertility, health (HIV and nutrition), and economic development. Ultimately, despite desperate economic, sociohistorical, demographic and political circumstances, African families remain vitally important for social and psychological support throughout an individual's life span.

Résumé
The essays explore contemporary change in African families, and consequences for children and parents, the elderly, gender roles, moral values, fertility, health (HIV and nutrition), and economic development.

Contenu

Foreword by Beatrice Whiting and John Whiting Introduction: Crisis in the African Family by Candice Bradley and Thomas S. Weisner Human Development, Values, and Family Change Psychological and Institutional Defense Mechanisms in Times of Change by Joshua Akong'a Support for Children and the African Family Crisis by Thomas S. Weisner Morality and Change: Family Unity and Paternal Authority among Kipsigis and Abaluyia Elders and Students by Carolyn Pope Edwards Gender, Status, and Values among Likuyu and Appalachian Adolescents by Susan Abbott Health HIV/AIDS Risk Factors and Changing Sexual Practices in Kenya by A. B. C. Ocholla-Ayayo The Social and Cultural Contexts of Food Production in Uganda and Kenya by Michael A. Whyte Malnutrition and Gender Relations in Western Kenya by Susan Reynolds Whyte and Priscilla Wanjiru Kariuki Aging The Discourse of Neglect: Family Support for the Elderly in Samia by Maria G. Cattell Pronatalism and the Elderly in Tiriki, Kenya by Walter H. Sangree Stigma, Role Overload, and Delocalization among Contemporary Kenyan Women by Philip L. Kilbride and Janet C. Kilbride Gender and Reproduction Why Fertility is Going Down in Maragoli by Candice Bradley Gender and Life Course Strategies among the Gusii by N. Thomas Håkansson and Robert A. LeVine Resource Allocation and Polygyny in the Lake Victoria Basin by Joseph W. Ssennyonga Changing Women's Rights over Property in Western Kenya by Ruth Nasimiyu Logoli Childhood and the Cultural Reproduction of Sex Differentiation by Robert L. Munroe and Ruth H. Munroe Culture, Family, and Economy Right Values and Good Fortune: Bukusu Responses to Ecological Opportunity by Jan J. de Wolf Changing Roles in the Bukusu Family by Simiyu Wandibba Modernization, Family Life, and Child Development in Kokwet by Charles M. Super and Sara Harkness Index