Clandestinity and National Identities: Comparing Global Regulation of Polygyny on the Ground.

National identity is constructed based on ideas of common origin, race and ethnicity, and/or cultural ties, with boundaries marked by those who are excluded. The process of othering to define national belonging has been contingent on many intersecting factors, such as race, ethnicity, sexuality, immigration and marriage/family status, etc. This paper addresses the question of how the interplay of religion and race defines the boundaries of national identities to regulate sexual intimacy and family life. By comparing government regulation of polygyny in France and the United States, the findings uncover how normative conceptions of family rely on racial and religious configurations that allow for specific forms of state regulation of sexual intimacy and family life. In other words, polygyny's prohibition permits the policing of citizenship and national identity based on religion and race in contexts specific to the nation-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]