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Some Problems of African Urban Family Life: an Example From Kampala, Uganda, British East Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Peter C. W. Gutkind
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It has been asserted that the African family is the “most significant feature of African society” and its “central institution.” (Phillips, 1953, p. ix) It has further been pointed out that African marriage is far more than a contract between two individuals but also represents the establishment of a link between two kinship groups. In this respect the payment of some type of wealth is an important part in the forging of a bond between the two kinship groups. Students of African sociology have paid great attention to the payment of cattle or money or other commodities as, perhaps, the most important aspect of the marriage contract. Not only has there been much discussion as to the best definition of this process but until relatively recently the exact significance of the “bride price” has not been too clearly understood. In part this was due to the fact that the wider implications of this aspect of the marriage contract were not understood. There was a tendency to view the payment of “bride price” as the key to the contractual relationship. We now know that this is not the case: in addition to the “bride price”—which is far more than simple barter-—other and equally important points of contact are established in ritual and economic and social affairs. In other words, marriage in African society is very much an integral part of the functioning of society as a whole. At one and the same time it establishes points of conflict and tension which are ritualized by a wide variety of sanctions, and leads to strengthening of the whole fabric of the society.

Type
Research Article
Information
Diogenes , Volume 10 , Issue 37 , March 1962 , pp. 88 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © 1962 Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie / International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP)

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