Illicit Monogamy

Inside a Fundamentalist Mormon Community

William Jankowiak

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Hardback

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English

Columbia University Press
27 June 2023

Christian life & practice; Christian communities & monasticism

Angel Park is a Mormon fundamentalist polygamous community where plural marriages between one man and multiple women are common. In contrast to mainstream America's idealization of the nuclear family and romantic love, its residents esteem notions of harmonious familial love, a spiritual bond that unites all family members. In their view, polygyny is not only righteous and sanctified-it is also conducive to communal life and social stability.

Based on many years of in-depth ethnographic research in Angel Park, this book explores daily life in a polygamous community. William R. Jankowiak considers the plural family from the points of view of husbands, wives, and children, giving a balanced account of its complications and conflicts. He finds that people in polygynous marriages, especially cowives, experience an ongoing struggle to balance the longing for romantic intimacy with the obligation to support the larger family. They feel tension between deeply held religious convictions and the desire for emotional exclusivity, which can threaten the stability and harmony of the polygamous family. Men and women often form exclusive romantic pairs within plural marriages, which are tolerated if not openly acknowledged, showing the limits of the community's beliefs. Jankowiak also challenges stereotypes of polygamous families as bastions of patriarchal power, showing the weight that interpersonal and social expectations place on men.

Offering an unparalleled look at the complexity of a polygamous religious community, Illicit Monogamy also helps us reconsider relationships, love, and family dynamics across cultures and settings.

By: William Jankowiak
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm,
ISBN: 9780231150200
ISBN 10: 0231150202
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 27 June 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

William R. Jankowiak is professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is the author of Sex, Death, and Hierarchy in a Chinese City: An Anthropological Account (1993) as well as the editor of Romantic Passion: A Universal Experience? (1995) and Intimacies: Love and Sex Across Cultures (2008), all from Columbia University Press, among other books.

Reviews for Illicit Monogamy: Inside a Fundamentalist Mormon Community

Illicit Monogamy focuses on the polygamous community Angel Park, giving readers a real feel for the society. Jankowiak is superb at treating his subjects with fairness, so that we don't care about who is 'best,' but rather what universal factors shape people's responses. This is a wonderful book-I'd be proud to have written it. -- Elaine Hatfield, author of <i>What's Next in Love and Sex: Psychological and Cultural Perspectives</i>