ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with considering the major positions as an introduction to the substantive discussion of social change tendencies. The structuralist method has also proved to be useful in comparative regional analyses of marriage systems. Polygamy remains a widespread feature of African societies and one which, despite the predictions of modernisation theorists, does not necessarily seem to be on the decline. The political economy of marriage relates to the processes of household formation and expansion viewed over a man's adult career. The relative independence of many African women, whether married or not, has often been reported in the literature – with the West African market woman being the epitome of this situation. Commentators on African social change often focus on the high frequencies of divorce in modern urban contexts, and many link the instability of marriage there chiefly to demographic factors, especially to the strongly unbalanced sex ratio due to labour migration.
