Child fostering in West Africa : new perspectives on theory and practices / / edited by Erdmute Alber, Jeannett Martin and Catrien Notermans.

• Superior document: Africa-Europe group for interdisciplinary studies ; v. 9
• TeilnehmendeR: Alber, Erdmute.; Martin, Jeannett.; Notermans, Catrien, 1966-
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Series: African-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies (Series) ; v. 9.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (262 p.)
• Notes: Includes index.
• Other title: Preliminary Material --; Introduction /; 1. A Framework for the Analysis of Parent Roles /; 2. Adoption, Fosterage, and Alliance /; 3. The Transfer of Belonging: Theories on Child Fostering in West Africa Reviewed /; 4. Experiencing Father’s Kin and Mother’s Kin: Kinship Norms and Practices from the Perspective of Foster Children in Northern Benin /; 5. Relating Affiliation and Descent: Brothers’ Daughters as Co-wives among the Bulsa in Northern Ghana /; 6. Children Coming and Going: Fostering and Lifetime Mobility in East Cameroon /; 7. The Promises of Shared Motherhood and the Perils of Detachment: A Comparison of Local and Transnational Child Fostering in Cape Verde /; 8. Disputes Over Transfers of Belonging in the Gold Coast in the 1870's: Fosterage or Debt Pawning? /; 9. Child Adoption and Foster Care in the Context of Legal Pluralism: Case Studies from Ghana /; Index.
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• ISBN: 9004250611
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: edited by Erdmute Alber, Jeannett Martin and Catrien Notermans.

Child fostering is an age-old and also modern phenomenon whose importance stretches much further than the boundaries of so-called ‘traditional’ African societies. As a mobile and creative kinship practice, child fostering is of growing importance in the global world as it goes along with other forms of mobility such as migration and transnationalism. The book aims to revitalize the study of fostering by situating the issue in more recent theoretical approaches to kinship. It also examines what functionalist and structuralist theory may still contribute to the understanding of child fostering. Historical and recent child fostering practices in several West African countries are discussed from the angles of Anthropology, History and Law.