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Dossier

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2023): The fear of big numbers. Politics and politicisation of African demographic change

“Marriage crisis” or “reproductive revolution”? North Africa’s eventful demographic transition

  • Édouard Conte
Submitted
November 21, 2024
Published
2024-12-10

Abstract

 This article addresses in anthropological perspective the interplay of demographic transi
tion in the countries of North Africa and gendered processes of kinship and marriage pred
icated on the transgenerational continuity of patronymics (nasab) which underpins individ
ual filiation and legitimacy. The present analysis departs from a comparative, diachronic 
approach to variations in fertility decline, the rise of the age at first marriage for both gen
ders, persistent age gaps between spouses, contextually distinct rates of consanguinity, de
layed marriage versus final celibacy, and the prevalence and effects of son preference. These 
facets entertain complex interrelations with national, regional, and international migratory 
patterns, high youth unemployment, the increased cost of marriage and housing and, last 
but not least, women’s access to education correlated with their persistent margnalisation 
from the labour market. These dynamics, manifest in reduced fertility, touch at the heart 
long-established modes of social reproduction and gender inequality and configure intense 
public debate over a perceived ‘marriage crisis’. Yet, the emergence  of novel modalities of 
non-conventional or unregistered forms of marriage and, conversely, the feared emergence 
of ‘terminal celibacy’ remain statistically limited. Indeed, ‘classical’ matrimony remains 
an almost universal aspiration and, albeit with deferral, remains the keystone of the social 
order. This constant renders apparent the contested yet perduring hold of the nasab complex.