The study of the family in North Africa, and in Muslim societies, has undergone very interesting developments over the past fifteen years due to the transformations of family codes, as well as the deployment of new technologies in the field of reproduction and related bioethical issues. They also reflect major and profound societal changes (notably an increase in the urban population, access to education and female paid work) and a review of Islamic and/or traditional/customary norms, particularly in terms of gender equality. However, while a vast literature addresses the subject of family transformations in Europe and elsewhere from the perspective of parenthood - rethinking the family based on the child and his or her well-being - it must be noted that research in this perspective is rare in the case of societies in North Africa, and more broadly in Muslim societies. In this talk, we will discuss the study of parenthood in Muslim Africa, with a particular focus on North African countries. 

Yazid Ben Hounet is a social anthropologist, research fellow at the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, member of the Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Sociale (CNRS – Collège de France – EHESS). He holds his PhD from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris). His dissertation was published in 2009 and discussed tribal issues in contemporary Algeria. His past and current research lays at the intersection of legal and political anthropology, in Muslim context. He also did research in the field of kinship studies. After he completed his PhD thesis, he studied the local processes of reconciliation in Algeria and Sudan, but also legal practices in matters of property.
Email : yben@ehess.fr

Chair: Adams Bodomo