Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home AfricaBib Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Disharmonious spouses and harmonious siblings: conceptualizing household formation among urban residents in Qwaqwa
Author:Niehaus, Isak A.ISNI
Year:1994
Periodical:African Studies
Volume:53
Issue:1
Pages:115-135
Language:English
Geographic terms:South Africa
Qwaqwa
Subjects:family
urban households
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Urbanization and Migration
Women's Issues
Cultural Roles
Marital Relations and Nuptiality
Family Life
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/00020189408707791
Abstract:Ethnographic studies on southern Africa have recorded intense levels of marital instability and domestic disorganization. Yet little attention has been focused on new forms of households that have emerged in this context. With reference to case material on the town of Phuthaditjhaba in Qwaqwa, South Africa, this paper suggests that cooperative relations between siblings have become a central principle underlying household formation. It shows that out of a sample of 80 households only 11 households contained no siblings groups. A nuanced account of domestic life in the labour-sending areas of southern Africa demands recognition of the greater advantages offered by consanguineal ties over affinal ties as bases of cooperation and support. The paper is based on research carried out in Qwaqwa in the 1980s and was presented to the conference of the Association for Anthropology in Southern Africa at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, in September 1989.
Views
Cover