Transcontinental polygyny, migration and hegemonic masculinity in Guinea-Bissau and the Gambia

Abstract

In the context of transnational migration, many non-migrant men in Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia postulate a ‘transcontinental’ version of polygyny, wishing to have one wife in Europe and another in Africa. Such claims are made among competing notions of love based on romantic intimacy and monogamy. This article explores the ways in which people rationalise polygyny in transnational marriage, based on the notion of hegemonic masculinity. Whereas hegemonic masculinity is an ideal asserted discursively, through persuasion, and relies on common consent, some migrant men resort to the strategy of keeping the African wife secret from the European wife—they are only able to assert a ‘one-sided hegemonic masculinity’ in transnational marriage. Ultimately, global economic inequalities and the demand for labour migration characteristic of contemporary neoliberal globalisation counter the trend towards romantic intimacy, necessitating transnational family forms and favouring polygyny.