Book excerpt: The family is one of the most important institutions of African societies. Where is it going today? How is it affected by global processes, cultural and political as well as economic? How does it compare with family developments in other parts of the world? These are questions which this book addresses. The contributors deal with the African family in a comparative global context, focusing on patriarchy, sexuality and marriage, and fertility; biological and social reproduction in Ghana under conditions of globalization and structural adjustment; Nigerian marriage relations under the impact of current conditions and; family changes in the North (Britain) from a family perspective of the South (South Africa).