Negotiating sisterarchy within polygynous marriages

Abstract

This chapter explores the negotiations involved in entering into and being part of a polygynous marriage. To date, the literature has focused on women’s subordination or oppression in polygynous marriages and not the negotiation and areas of solidarity that occur amongst women within familial and cultural contexts. By drawing on the concept of patriarchal bargains including a specific focus on ‘sisterarchy’ (a combination of patriarchy and sisterhood), this chapter identifies the previous, uncritical stance towards the structure of seniority that divides women within polygynous marriages. Drawing on research with women and adult children in polygynous families over the past ten years, the chapter explores how women negotiate with other women and men to manage the insecurities of African polygyny and maximise the relative autonomy that is available. The chapter examines how women strategise and negotiate within a set of concrete constraints, including familial pressure. The findings show how women draw on a range of strategies to assert control and power in the marriage. Differences amongst women, particularly in the area of education and financial independence, open up new areas of struggles and renegotiations with senior wives, and some co-wives recognised that collaboration amongst themselves gave them substantially more power both individually and collectively than hostility did.