Author: Jean Allman
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253108876
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
How did African women negotiate the complex political, economic, and social forces of colonialism in their daily lives? How did they make meaningful lives for themselves in a world that challenged fundamental notions of work, sexuality, marriage, motherhood, and family? By considering the lives of ordinary African women -- farmers, queen mothers, midwives, urban dwellers, migrants, and political leaders -- in the context of particular colonial conditions at specific places and times, Women in African Colonial Histories challenges the notion of a homogeneous "African women's experience." While recognizing the inherent violence and brutality of the colonial encounter, the essays in this lively volume show that African women were not simply the hapless victims of European political rule. Innovative use of primary sources, including life histories, oral narratives, court cases, newspapers, colonial archives, and physical evidence, attests that African women's experiences defy static representation. Readers at all levels will find this an important contribution to ongoing debates in African women's history and African colonial history.
Women in African Colonial Histories
Author: Jean Allman
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253108876
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
How did African women negotiate the complex political, economic, and social forces of colonialism in their daily lives? How did they make meaningful lives for themselves in a world that challenged fundamental notions of work, sexuality, marriage, motherhood, and family? By considering the lives of ordinary African women -- farmers, queen mothers, midwives, urban dwellers, migrants, and political leaders -- in the context of particular colonial conditions at specific places and times, Women in African Colonial Histories challenges the notion of a homogeneous "African women's experience." While recognizing the inherent violence and brutality of the colonial encounter, the essays in this lively volume show that African women were not simply the hapless victims of European political rule. Innovative use of primary sources, including life histories, oral narratives, court cases, newspapers, colonial archives, and physical evidence, attests that African women's experiences defy static representation. Readers at all levels will find this an important contribution to ongoing debates in African women's history and African colonial history.
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253108876
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
How did African women negotiate the complex political, economic, and social forces of colonialism in their daily lives? How did they make meaningful lives for themselves in a world that challenged fundamental notions of work, sexuality, marriage, motherhood, and family? By considering the lives of ordinary African women -- farmers, queen mothers, midwives, urban dwellers, migrants, and political leaders -- in the context of particular colonial conditions at specific places and times, Women in African Colonial Histories challenges the notion of a homogeneous "African women's experience." While recognizing the inherent violence and brutality of the colonial encounter, the essays in this lively volume show that African women were not simply the hapless victims of European political rule. Innovative use of primary sources, including life histories, oral narratives, court cases, newspapers, colonial archives, and physical evidence, attests that African women's experiences defy static representation. Readers at all levels will find this an important contribution to ongoing debates in African women's history and African colonial history.
African Women
Author: Catherine Coquery-vidrovitch
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429982127
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 319
Book Description
Over the last century, the social and economic roles played by African women have evolved dramatically. Long confined to home and field, overlooked by their menfolk and missionaries alike, African women worked, thought, dreamed, and struggled. They migrated to the cities, invented new jobs, and activated the so-called informal economy to become Africa's economic and social focal point. As a result, despite their lack of education and relatively low status, women are now Africa's best hope for the future. This sweeping and innovative book is the first to reconstruct the full history of women in sub-Saharan Africa. Tracing the lot of African women from the eve of the colonial period to the present, Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch explores the stages and forms of women's collective roles as well as their individual emancipation through revolts, urban migrations, economic impacts, social claims, political strength, and creativity. Comparing case studies drawn from throughout the region, she sheds light on issues ranging from gender to economy, politics, society, and culture. Utilizing an impressive array of sources, she highlights broad general patterns without overlooking crucial local variations. With its breadth of coverage and clear analysis of complex questions, this book is destined to become a standard text for scholars and students alike.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429982127
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 319
Book Description
Over the last century, the social and economic roles played by African women have evolved dramatically. Long confined to home and field, overlooked by their menfolk and missionaries alike, African women worked, thought, dreamed, and struggled. They migrated to the cities, invented new jobs, and activated the so-called informal economy to become Africa's economic and social focal point. As a result, despite their lack of education and relatively low status, women are now Africa's best hope for the future. This sweeping and innovative book is the first to reconstruct the full history of women in sub-Saharan Africa. Tracing the lot of African women from the eve of the colonial period to the present, Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch explores the stages and forms of women's collective roles as well as their individual emancipation through revolts, urban migrations, economic impacts, social claims, political strength, and creativity. Comparing case studies drawn from throughout the region, she sheds light on issues ranging from gender to economy, politics, society, and culture. Utilizing an impressive array of sources, she highlights broad general patterns without overlooking crucial local variations. With its breadth of coverage and clear analysis of complex questions, this book is destined to become a standard text for scholars and students alike.
Women in African Colonial Histories
Author: Susan Geiger
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253215079
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
While recognising the inherent violence and brutality of the colonial encounter, the essays in this anthology show that African women were not simply the hapless victims of European political rule.
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253215079
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356
Book Description
While recognising the inherent violence and brutality of the colonial encounter, the essays in this anthology show that African women were not simply the hapless victims of European political rule.
African Women
Author: Kathleen Sheldon
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253027314
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
African women's history is a topic as vast as the continent itself, embracing an array of societies in over fifty countries with different geographies, social customs, religions, and historical situations. In African Women: Early History to the 21st Century, Kathleen Sheldon masterfully delivers a comprehensive study of this expansive story from before the time of records to the present day. She provides rich background on descent systems and the roles of women in matrilineal and patrilineal systems. Sheldon's work profiles elite women, as well as those in leadership roles, traders and market women, religious women, slave women, women in resistance movements, and women in politics and development. The rich case studies and biographies in this thorough survey establish a grand narrative about women's roles in the history of Africa.
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253027314
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
African women's history is a topic as vast as the continent itself, embracing an array of societies in over fifty countries with different geographies, social customs, religions, and historical situations. In African Women: Early History to the 21st Century, Kathleen Sheldon masterfully delivers a comprehensive study of this expansive story from before the time of records to the present day. She provides rich background on descent systems and the roles of women in matrilineal and patrilineal systems. Sheldon's work profiles elite women, as well as those in leadership roles, traders and market women, religious women, slave women, women in resistance movements, and women in politics and development. The rich case studies and biographies in this thorough survey establish a grand narrative about women's roles in the history of Africa.
The Women's War of 1929
Author: Toyin Falola
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781594609312
Category : Government, Resistance to
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This book offers a narrative and analysis of a central event in the colonial history of Nigeria - the Women's War of 1929, also called the Aba Women's Riots by colonial officials. The Women's War of 1929 addresses the historical debates related to the causes and consequences of the event with assessments of each side's strengths and weaknesses. Focusing mainly on the actions of African participants, the book explains the cultural, social, and economic issues that led to the Women's War and the reasons why women used specific strategies. It also evaluates the aftermath of the conflict and how the protest practices used by Igbo and Ibibio women influenced British colonial policy. The book goes further than other historical accounts of the Women's War by evaluating subsequent women's protests into the 1930s. The volume includes a large collection of primary documents reproduced for print from archives in Nigeria and London. A chapter designed for students gives context to the documents and offers a short guide on how to use them effectively. The document collection offers insights into more than just the Women's War, owing to firsthand accounts and opinions from Igbo and Ibibio people, as well as how colonial officials described life under British colonialism. The documents section is designed to be a primary resource for students and professors of African Studies, African History, British Imperial Studies, and Gender Studies so that readers interested in the subject have the chance to read the actual words of African women and colonial officials. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin. "Fantastic! That's the first word that comes to mind in considering this volume. Falola and Paddock have done researchers, teachers and students an enormous service by making readily available for the first time a sizeable chunk of the enormous quantity of testimonies and documents generated as a result of Women's War of 1929. Teachers especially will find the chapter on historiography, which provides a thoughtful, useful and concise guide for students on how historians work, of great interest." -- Anene Ejikeme, Associate Professor of History, Trinity University "This book is by far the most comprehensive study on the 1929 Women's War, a major milestone in the colonial history of Nigeria. It goes beyond a synthesis of scholarship on the war by offering a rich and nuanced narrative of the multifaceted causes and consequences of the anti-colonial movement within the contexts of the Igbo and Ibibio socio-cultural organizations, and the colonial political economy. The inclusion of key primary documents and excerpts on the war and related events with useful information on historical techniques distinguishes this book from many others on Nigerian nationalist studies, and underscores its significance to African colonial historiography and British imperial studies. It provides critical perspectives on women and gender studies, anthropological and historical studies, and studies in colonialism, nationalism, and resistance, and therefore, will be of interest to a wide readership including students and researchers." -- Gloria Chuku, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, University of Maryland "As this book illustrates, the testimonies of men and women speaking about the Women's War allow readers to hear their voices ... Throughout this book, the authors have done a fine job of highlighting the richness of African voices, which reveal the complexity of the colonial encounter." -- Africa
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781594609312
Category : Government, Resistance to
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This book offers a narrative and analysis of a central event in the colonial history of Nigeria - the Women's War of 1929, also called the Aba Women's Riots by colonial officials. The Women's War of 1929 addresses the historical debates related to the causes and consequences of the event with assessments of each side's strengths and weaknesses. Focusing mainly on the actions of African participants, the book explains the cultural, social, and economic issues that led to the Women's War and the reasons why women used specific strategies. It also evaluates the aftermath of the conflict and how the protest practices used by Igbo and Ibibio women influenced British colonial policy. The book goes further than other historical accounts of the Women's War by evaluating subsequent women's protests into the 1930s. The volume includes a large collection of primary documents reproduced for print from archives in Nigeria and London. A chapter designed for students gives context to the documents and offers a short guide on how to use them effectively. The document collection offers insights into more than just the Women's War, owing to firsthand accounts and opinions from Igbo and Ibibio people, as well as how colonial officials described life under British colonialism. The documents section is designed to be a primary resource for students and professors of African Studies, African History, British Imperial Studies, and Gender Studies so that readers interested in the subject have the chance to read the actual words of African women and colonial officials. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin. "Fantastic! That's the first word that comes to mind in considering this volume. Falola and Paddock have done researchers, teachers and students an enormous service by making readily available for the first time a sizeable chunk of the enormous quantity of testimonies and documents generated as a result of Women's War of 1929. Teachers especially will find the chapter on historiography, which provides a thoughtful, useful and concise guide for students on how historians work, of great interest." -- Anene Ejikeme, Associate Professor of History, Trinity University "This book is by far the most comprehensive study on the 1929 Women's War, a major milestone in the colonial history of Nigeria. It goes beyond a synthesis of scholarship on the war by offering a rich and nuanced narrative of the multifaceted causes and consequences of the anti-colonial movement within the contexts of the Igbo and Ibibio socio-cultural organizations, and the colonial political economy. The inclusion of key primary documents and excerpts on the war and related events with useful information on historical techniques distinguishes this book from many others on Nigerian nationalist studies, and underscores its significance to African colonial historiography and British imperial studies. It provides critical perspectives on women and gender studies, anthropological and historical studies, and studies in colonialism, nationalism, and resistance, and therefore, will be of interest to a wide readership including students and researchers." -- Gloria Chuku, Associate Professor of Africana Studies, University of Maryland "As this book illustrates, the testimonies of men and women speaking about the Women's War allow readers to hear their voices ... Throughout this book, the authors have done a fine job of highlighting the richness of African voices, which reveal the complexity of the colonial encounter." -- Africa
The Invention of Women
Author: Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452903255
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
The "woman question", this book asserts, is a Western one, and not a proper lens for viewing African society. A work that rethinks gender as a Western contruction, The Invention of Women offers a new way of understanding both Yoruban and Western cultures. Oyewumi traces the misapplication of Western, body-oriented concepts of gender through the history of gender discourses in Yoruba studies. Her analysis shows the paradoxical nature of two fundamental assumptions of feminist theory: that gender is socially constructed in old Yoruba society, and that social organization was determined by relative age.
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452903255
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
The "woman question", this book asserts, is a Western one, and not a proper lens for viewing African society. A work that rethinks gender as a Western contruction, The Invention of Women offers a new way of understanding both Yoruban and Western cultures. Oyewumi traces the misapplication of Western, body-oriented concepts of gender through the history of gender discourses in Yoruba studies. Her analysis shows the paradoxical nature of two fundamental assumptions of feminist theory: that gender is socially constructed in old Yoruba society, and that social organization was determined by relative age.
Holding the World Together
Author: Nwando Achebe
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 029932110X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 393
Book Description
Featuring contributions from some of the most accomplished scholars on the topic, Holding the World Together explores the rich and varied ways in which women have wielded power across the African continent, from the precolonial period to the present. Suitable for classroom use, this comprehensive volume considers such topics as the representation of African women, their role in national liberation movements, their experiences of religious fundamentalism (both Christian and Muslim), their incorporation into the world economy, changing family and marriage systems, impacts of the world economy on their lives and livelihoods, and the unique challenges they face in the areas of health and disease. Contributors: Nwando Achebe, Ousseina Alidou, Signe Arnfred, Andrea L. Arrington-Sirois, Henryatta Ballah, Teresa Barnes, Josephine Beoku-Betts, Emily Burril, Abena P. A. Busia, Gracia Clark, Alicia Decker, Karen Flint, December Green, Cajetan Iheka, Rachel Jean-Baptiste, Elizabeth M. Perego, Claire Robertson, Kathleen Sheldon, Aili Mari Tripp, Cassandra Veney
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 029932110X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 393
Book Description
Featuring contributions from some of the most accomplished scholars on the topic, Holding the World Together explores the rich and varied ways in which women have wielded power across the African continent, from the precolonial period to the present. Suitable for classroom use, this comprehensive volume considers such topics as the representation of African women, their role in national liberation movements, their experiences of religious fundamentalism (both Christian and Muslim), their incorporation into the world economy, changing family and marriage systems, impacts of the world economy on their lives and livelihoods, and the unique challenges they face in the areas of health and disease. Contributors: Nwando Achebe, Ousseina Alidou, Signe Arnfred, Andrea L. Arrington-Sirois, Henryatta Ballah, Teresa Barnes, Josephine Beoku-Betts, Emily Burril, Abena P. A. Busia, Gracia Clark, Alicia Decker, Karen Flint, December Green, Cajetan Iheka, Rachel Jean-Baptiste, Elizabeth M. Perego, Claire Robertson, Kathleen Sheldon, Aili Mari Tripp, Cassandra Veney
African Womanhood in Colonial Kenya, 1900-50
Author: Tabitha Kanogo
Publisher: James Currey (GB)
ISBN: 9780852554463
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
This is the most interesting general Kenyan social history that I have had the pleasure to read for many years. It fills a large gap in the colonial history of Kenyan women as they negotiated changes in the most domestic areas of their experience. - John Lonsdale, Trinity College, Cambridge
Publisher: James Currey (GB)
ISBN: 9780852554463
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
This is the most interesting general Kenyan social history that I have had the pleasure to read for many years. It fills a large gap in the colonial history of Kenyan women as they negotiated changes in the most domestic areas of their experience. - John Lonsdale, Trinity College, Cambridge
The African Lookbook
Author: Catherine E. McKinley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1620403544
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 218
Book Description
Winner of the African Photobook of the Year Award A Choice Outstanding Title of the Year A USA Today "Must-Read for Black History Month" An NPR "Goats and Soda" Editors' Pick A BookRiot Favorite Nonfiction Book of the Year An unprecedented visual history of African women told in striking and subversive historical photographs-featuring an Introduction by Edwidge Danticat and a Foreword by Jacqueline Woodson. Most of us grew up with images of African women that were purely anthropological-bright displays of exotica where the deeper personhood seemed tucked away. Or they were chronicles of war and poverty-“poverty porn.” But now, curator Catherine E. McKinley draws on her extensive collection of historical and contemporary photos to present a visual history spanning a hundred-year arc (1870–1970) of what is among the earliest photography on the continent. These images tell a different story of African women: how deeply cosmopolitan and modern they are in their style; how they were able to reclaim the tools of the colonial oppression that threatened their selfhood and livelihoods. Featuring works by celebrated African masters, African studios of local legend, and anonymous artists, The African Lookbook captures the dignity, playfulness, austerity, grandeur, and fantasy-making of African women across centuries. McKinley also features photos by Europeans-most starkly, striking nudes-revealing the relationships between white men and the Black female sitters where, at best, a grave power imbalance lies. It's a bittersweet truth that when there is exploitation there can also be profound resistance expressed in unexpected ways-even if it's only in gazing back. These photos tell the story of how the sewing machine and the camera became powerful tools for women's self-expression, revealing a truly glorious display of everyday beauty.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1620403544
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 218
Book Description
Winner of the African Photobook of the Year Award A Choice Outstanding Title of the Year A USA Today "Must-Read for Black History Month" An NPR "Goats and Soda" Editors' Pick A BookRiot Favorite Nonfiction Book of the Year An unprecedented visual history of African women told in striking and subversive historical photographs-featuring an Introduction by Edwidge Danticat and a Foreword by Jacqueline Woodson. Most of us grew up with images of African women that were purely anthropological-bright displays of exotica where the deeper personhood seemed tucked away. Or they were chronicles of war and poverty-“poverty porn.” But now, curator Catherine E. McKinley draws on her extensive collection of historical and contemporary photos to present a visual history spanning a hundred-year arc (1870–1970) of what is among the earliest photography on the continent. These images tell a different story of African women: how deeply cosmopolitan and modern they are in their style; how they were able to reclaim the tools of the colonial oppression that threatened their selfhood and livelihoods. Featuring works by celebrated African masters, African studios of local legend, and anonymous artists, The African Lookbook captures the dignity, playfulness, austerity, grandeur, and fantasy-making of African women across centuries. McKinley also features photos by Europeans-most starkly, striking nudes-revealing the relationships between white men and the Black female sitters where, at best, a grave power imbalance lies. It's a bittersweet truth that when there is exploitation there can also be profound resistance expressed in unexpected ways-even if it's only in gazing back. These photos tell the story of how the sewing machine and the camera became powerful tools for women's self-expression, revealing a truly glorious display of everyday beauty.
Politics of the Womb
Author: Lynn Thomas
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520936647
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 317
Book Description
In more than a metaphorical sense, the womb has proven to be an important site of political struggle in and about Africa. By examining the political significance—and complex ramifications—of reproductive controversies in twentieth-century Kenya, this book explores why and how control of female initiation, abortion, childbirth, and premarital pregnancy have been crucial to the exercise of colonial and postcolonial power. This innovative book enriches the study of gender, reproduction, sexuality, and African history by revealing how reproductive controversies challenged long-standing social hierarchies and contributed to the construction of new ones that continue to influence the fraught politics of abortion, birth control, female genital cutting, and HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520936647
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 317
Book Description
In more than a metaphorical sense, the womb has proven to be an important site of political struggle in and about Africa. By examining the political significance—and complex ramifications—of reproductive controversies in twentieth-century Kenya, this book explores why and how control of female initiation, abortion, childbirth, and premarital pregnancy have been crucial to the exercise of colonial and postcolonial power. This innovative book enriches the study of gender, reproduction, sexuality, and African history by revealing how reproductive controversies challenged long-standing social hierarchies and contributed to the construction of new ones that continue to influence the fraught politics of abortion, birth control, female genital cutting, and HIV/AIDS in Africa.