Families in the Process of Development Major Trends Affecting Families (original) (raw)
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SSRN, 2020
In this paper I attempt a discussion on the changing trends and modes of transition that the contemporary African family is going through. The key influential factor and major drive of these transformations is the concept of Globalization and Modernization and their impact on the family systems and structures in Africa. The paper is not a critique of the Western norm and concept of ideology, but an expose of the goings-on that has dire consequences for the very survival of the African family. The question as to whether the African family is in crisis or not and what the future holds is the prime focus of this discussion. I also attempt a brief discussion of the concept of Globalization, and from the discussion, place in context the African family, and to what extent it is being adversely influenced by globalization. I conclude by attempting a forecast based on the evidence presented in the various arguments on the future of the African Family; its systems, values and structure.
Rediscovering the Definition of the Family: Implications For the African Globalized Society
Quest Journals Journal of Research in Business and Management Volume 3 ~ Issue 10 (2015) pp: 35-41, 2015
The family institution is a noble institution in Africa. Like some other African values that are being affected by the trend of globalization, the family is not left out. Thus, in the recent past, some thinkers tend to see the family concept as a purely sociological concept that should change essentially with the society. There has been attempts at redefinition of not just the family but also its sister concept-marriage. Contemporary families are, therefore, inclusive of single parent families, blended families, step-families and homosexual families to name a few. To define the concept of the family as a monolithic notion or as a concept consisting of one pattern of attributes leads to controversial discussions pertaining to the ideologies of marriage, divorce, sex and children. The family is no longer a concept that can be contemplated within an essentialist notion, rather the concept of the contemporary family has evolved into a fluid ideology that is constantly shifting and changing throughout society. In a globalized world where economic, political, environmental, and cultural events in one part of the world quickly come to have significance for people in other parts of the world, such redefinition of the family system places Africans on the danger of losing of their family values. This article, therefore, employs the philosophical method of analysis in order to rediscover the definition of the family. Such definition will place the practical implication of the family within bounds. The result will be returning to the essentialist notion of the family in order to safeguard not just the typical African family but also to place the family value aright in the globalized world.
African families in a global context
2004
the eighties and early nineties she was a gender population and development specialist at the ILO in Geneva. She is currently cocoordinator of an interdisciplinary research and graduate training program, together with Bergen University, on Globalization and Changing Cultures of Survival and Care: the case of Ghana .
Family Demography and Post-2015 Development Agenda in Africa
Family Demography and Post-2015 Development Agenda in Africa, 2019
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
But we are Africans Family life cycle structuring and functioning in southern Angola (1)
Journal of Psychology in Africa, 2015
This study sought to explore and describe family life structuring and functioning in a southern Angolan setting. Informants were 20 people with an intimate knowledge of southern Angolan culture (females = 9, 45%; age range 26-88 years) and all employees in the health (n = 5; 25%), education (n = 8; 40%), juridical (n = 2; 10%), public administration (n = 2; 10 %) and faith-based organisations (n = 3; 15%) sectors. We engaged then in one-to-one interviews of aspects of family structure and function which they perceived to characterise the family life cycle in southern Angola. Findings suggest an intergenerational family structure with communal living and marriages in which premarital pregnancy was a precursor. Beginning or young families cohabitated with several other generation, others mostly from extended family in backyard townhomes. Traditionalist gender roles in which men were perceived as heads of households and women as caregivers persisted. Family life in southern Angola is marked by social adaptation of traditionalist African communal living in the context of modernity.