African Feminism : The Politics of Survival in Sub-Saharan Africa

African feminism, this landmark volume demonstrates, differs radically from the Western forms of feminism with which we have become familiar since the 1960s. African feminists are not, by and large, concerned with issues such as female control over reproduction or variation and choice within human sexuality, nor with debates about essentialism, the female body, or the discourse of patriarchy. The feminism that is slowly emerging in Africa is distinctly heterosexual, pronatal, and concerned with "bread, butter, and power" issues. Contributors present case studies of ten African states, demonstrating thatas they fight for access to land, for the right to own property, for control of food distribution, for living wages and safe working conditions, for health care, and for election reformAfrican women are creating a powerful and specifically African feminism. Contributors include Tsehai Berhane-Selassie, Carlene H. Dei, Shawn Riva Donaldson, Ilsa M. Glazer, Enid Gort, Betty J. Harris, Dolores Koenig, Takyiwaa Manuh, Gwendolyn Mikell, Maria Nzomo, Brooke Grundfest Schoepf, D. J. Shehu, and Jeanne Maddox Toungara. Cover 1 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 List of Tables 12 Acknowledgments 14 Introduction 18 Part I. Legal Interactions in the Domestic Realm 68 1. Changing the Meaning of Marriage: Women and Family Law in Côte d'Ivoire 70 2. Wives, Children, and Intestate Succession in Ghana 94 3. Pleas for Domestic Relief: Akan Women and Family Courts 113 Part II. Economic Change, Political Economy, and Women's Lives 142 4. Swazi Women Workers in Cottage Industries and Factories 144 5. Alcohol and Politics in Urban Zambia: The Intersection of Gender and Class 159 6. Women's Roles in Settlement and Resettlement in Mali 176 7. Ethiopian Rural Women and the State 199 8. Women and Grassroots Politics in Abidjan, Côte d'lvoire 223 9. Kenyan Women in Politics and Public Decision Making 249 Part III. Surviving Crisis in the Community 272 10. "Our Women Keep Our Skies from Falling": Women's Networks and Survival Imperatives in Tshunyane, South Africa 274 11. Technology and the Fuel Crisis: Adjustment among Women in Northern Nigeria 293 12. Swazi Traditional Healers, Role Transformation, and Gender 315 13. AIDS, Gender, and Sexuality during Africa's Economic Crisis 327 Conclusions: Theorizing and Strategizing about African Women and State Crisis 350 Appendix 364 Table A.1. Sub-Saharan Africa: Male-Female Data 364 Table A.2. Economic Activity by Sector and Sex 365 Table A.3. Sub-Saharan Africa Socioeconomic Data 365 List of Contributors 366 Index 370 Name Index 370 A 370 B 370 C 370 D 370 E 370 F 370 G 370 H 370 I 370 J 370 K 370 L 371 M 371 N 371 O 371 P 371 R 371 S 371 T 371 V 371 W 372 Y 372 Z 372 Subject Index 372 A 372 B 372 C 372 D 373 E 373 F 373 G 374 H 374 I 374 J 375 K 375 L 375 M 375 N 376 O 376 P 376 Q 376 R 376 S 376 T 377 U 377 V 377 W 377 Y 378 Z 378

African feminism, this landmark volume demonstrates, differs radically from the Western forms of feminism with which we have become familiar since the 1960s. African feminists are not, by and large, concerned with issues such as female control over reproduction or variation and choice within human sexuality, nor with debates about essentialism, the female body, or the discourse of patriarchy. The feminism that is slowly emerging in Africa is distinctly heterosexual, pronatal, and concerned with bread, butter, and power issues.

Contributors present case studies of ten African states, demonstrating that—as they fight for access to land, for the right to own property, for control of food distribution, for living wages and safe working conditions, for health care, and for election reform—African women are creating a powerful and specifically African feminism.

Provides an exploration of both the discrimination that African women experience and their strategies for coping with it. Contributors present case studies of ten African states demonstrating that--as they fight for access to land, for the right to own property, for control of food distribution, for living wages and safe working conditions, for health care, and for election reform--African women are creating a powerful and specifically African feminism. --From publisher description Women in the francophone country of Cote d'Ivoire are attempting to mobilize their forces so that they can play a determining role in setting national laws that affect their status as wives.