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Negotiating Love and Marriage in Contemporary Senegal: A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2015

Dinah Hannaford  and
Ellen E. Foley
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Abstract:

In Senegal, love, respect, and compatibility have historically figured into marital calculations, yet prospective husbands must also provide material support. After decades of stagnant economic growth, good providers are hard to find. In this article we examine two strategies that women employ in an attempt to achieve economic security: nonmarital sex and transnational marriage. Though recent anthropological literature proposes a global transition toward companionate marriage, evidence from Dakar suggests that Senegalese women are prioritizing short-term material gain over longer-term projects of social reproduction. Transnational marriage and nonmarital sexual relationships illuminate women’s new strategies to stabilize their social positions in increasingly precarious times.

Résumé:

Au Sénégal, les maris potentiels doivent certes fournir un soutien matériel à leur épouse cependant amour, respect et compatibilité ont historiquement également figuré dans les calculs matrimoniaux. Après des décennies de stagnation de la croissance économique, les bons chefs de famille sont difficiles à trouver. Dans cet article, nous examinons deux stratégies que les femmes emploient pour tenter de parvenir à la sécurité économique : sexe hors mariage et mariage transnational. Bien que la récente littérature anthropologique propose une transition mondiale vers le mariage de compagnie, des témoignages provenant de Dakar indique que les femmes sénégalaises privilégient les gains matériels à court terme par rapport aux projets de reproduction sociale à plus long terme. Le mariage transnational et les relations sexuelles hors mariage éclairent les nouvelles stratégies des femmes pour stabiliser leur position sociale à une époque de plus en plus précaire.

Keywords

Senegalmarriagetransnational migrationnonmarital relations
Type
ARTICLES
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 58 , Issue 2 , September 2015 , pp. 205 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2015 

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