The cultural definition of political response: lineal destiny among the Luo

Parkin, David J.

Book

The cultural definition of political response: lineal destiny among the Luo

Academic Press • London • Published In 1978 • Pages: xvii, 347

By: Parkin, David J..

Abstract
This book analyzes the cultural and economic reasons for the continuity of polygyny among ethnic Luo families in Nairobi, Kenya. It shows that Luo men invested their hard earned urban wage in marrying two or more wives because of the practical advantages this institution gave them for maintaining residence and linkages both in Nairobi and their rural birth place. More specifically, polygyny enabled urban men to retain certain economic interests and political influence in the countryside while remaining in full-time urban wage employment and while living within an urban nuclear family of one co-wife and her children. They did so by alternating each co-wife to spend an equal time during the year in town and at the rural home, supervising the family smallholding.

Cultural identity and pride

Ethos

Functional and adaptational interpretations

Social relationships and groups

Status, role, and prestige

Classes

Lineages