Polygamy: A Very Short Introduction

"This VSI offers a broad global and temporal history of polygamy and its importance in a range of settings. Polygamy, or plural marriage, has been an accepted form of union in the majority of human societies. People living on every continent have practiced this form of marriage; some still do. Plural marriages, just as more recent same-sex marriages, offer intriguing access to the workings of the institution of marriage, as well as the controversies linking public and private, sex and politics, that havesurrounded it. Confrontations over this type of marriage have also been historically important, especially in a range of colonial, imperial, and missionary encounters. Polygamy has come to symbolize a problematic, even "barbaric," form of marriage. Yet, even amid Christians, it has had notable defenders, including a number of radical Protestants such as Martin Luther, John Milton, and of course Joseph Smith. This book illuminates the public importance of the intimate, considering issues of cultural contact and confrontation, the shape of empires, slavery and hierarchy, royal and aristocratic power, religion and conflict, war and expansion, race and nation"--
Marriage has not always meant just one man and one woman. For much of human history, over much of the globe, the most common alternative was polygamy: marriage involving more than one spouse. Polygamy, or plural marriage, has long been an accepted form of union in human societies, involving people living on every continent. However, polygamy has come to symbolize a problematic, even “barbaric,” form of marriage that is often labeled as “backwards,” less modern and progressive, embodying the oppression of women by men.In Polygamy: A Very Short Introduction, Sarah M. S. Pearsall explores what plural marriages reveal about the inner workings of marriage and describes the controversies surrounding it. The book emphasizes the diversity of historical polygamist societies, from the Shi'ite Muslims and Wendat men who practiced short-term marriages to the Mixteca, Maori, Inca, Algonquin, and Marta indigenous people of North America and the Pacific Islands, as well as medieval Irish kings, rulers of the Kingdom of Buganda in east Africa, and residents of the Ottoman Empire. Pearsall also explains the Old Testament origins of polygamy in the book of Genesis, making note of vocal Protestant defenders of the practice such as Martin Luther and John Milton, and the divides within Christianity that led to Joseph Smith's establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) and the Mormons' fight throughout the 19th-century under his successor Brigham Young's leadership to freely practiceplural marriage.Polygamy: A Very Short Introduction looks at how polygamous domestic and sexual relationships have influenced larger dynamics of power, gender, rank, race, and religion in societies all over the world, while also attempting to untangle the paradox of female constraint and liberty for women who advocated for polygamy, arguing that plural marriage offered security and stability rather than restraint for women. In balancing an explanation of the many complexities and misunderstandings of plural marriage, the book reveals how polygamy continues to have an influence on society today.