This fascinating collection addresses the important problem of determining what forced marriage is through the perspective of historical studies of marriage from precolonial through postcolonial eras in Africa. The essays destabilize any idea that there is a simple dichotomy between forced and consensual marriage, and show that calling forms of coerced marriage customary or traditional ignores the extent to which ... Read moretradition is constantly subject to change. -Sally Engle Merry, Silver Professor of Anthropology, New York University, and author of Gender Violence: A Cultural Perspective This eloquent volume tackles age-old yet pressing problems of coercion, gender, and marriage in present-day Africa. The authors offer compelling case studies to demonstrate the deep-seated and complex values that underpin the subordination of women and girls and highlight the vulnerability of the female gender in the face of a growing movement-in Africa and abroad-to address the problem. This volume is a must-read for all those who teach, think, write, and formulate laws and public policy about gender and violence. - Makau Mutua, World Bank and SUNY Buffalo Law School Marriage by Force? pulls back the curtain and reveals the layers of social structures, gender, resistance, and liberation which manifest themselves when marriage is forced. The volume asks pertinent questions about a continuum of coercion in war and peace. Ultimately, the contributors have provided new perspectives on marriage, where contestations exist, with regard to not only the patriarchies of control of sexuality, the body and behavior, but also over labor, belonging and longing. - Jean Allain, Queen's University Belfast and the University of Pretoria Show Less