The Return of Polyandry - by Heidi E Fjeld (Paperback)

About the Book

This book describes the surprising increase in polyandry in Panam valley during the 1980s. It explores married lives in polyandrous houses and develops a theory of a flexible kinship of potentiality through the lens of a farming village in Tibet Autonomous Region.

Book Synopsis

This book describes the surprising increase in polyandry in Panam valley during the 1980s. It explores married lives in polyandrous houses and develops a theory of a flexible kinship of potentiality through the lens of a farming village in Tibet Autonomous Region.

Review Quotes

"Fjeld's well-researched, readable book is the first full-length ethnographic treatment of kinship and marriage in Tibet under Chinese rule...The text is accompanied by striking black-and-white photographs, a glossary, an extensive index, and a comprehensive bibliography...Recommended." - Choice

"This excellent work will be of great value to not only Tibetologists and scholars of anthropology of kinship, but also to anyone interested in learning about polyandry as a social and cultural phenomenon, or curious about the social and family organization of Tibetan regions." - Yeshe

"This will probably be the single most important book-length study of polyandry, kinship and marriage in Tibetan societies yet to have been published. It is also one of very few fieldwork-based monographs of Central Tibetan rural communities, and it is an excellent one at that." - Charles Ramble, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris

"The book reflects an important and original piece of research, and I anticipate it will become a work of reference both in Tibetan studies and in Social Anthropology. It is clearly written and well argued. It represents a milestone in promoting a fruitful dialogue between Tibetan Studies and anthropological approaches to the study of kinship." - Hildegard Diemberger, University of Cambridge

"Much better than boring charts and old articles, The Return of Polyandry made my students see kinship as a key concept for anthropology today and in their own lives. This Tibetan story is surprisingly relevant for discussing polyamory, LGBTQ+, blended and fertility-assisted families in Europe and North America." - Cameron David Warner, Aarhus University

About the Author

Heidi E. Fjeld is Professor in Medical Anthropology at the Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo. She is part of EATWELL, a radically interdisciplinary project on food systems in Bhutan, and the author of Commoners and Nobles: Hereditary Divisions in Tibet (NIAS, 2005).