Feminist Knowledge | Bibliography: African Women's Studies I

Women's Work and Labour 

Influenced by the United Nations Decade of Women, much scholarship on women's work during the eighties and early nineties followed a conservative developmentalist orientation. Advocating that African women's labour should be systematically aligned with national and global economic processes, it tended to reduce the regional complexity of African women's labour and underplayed women's own perceptions of their work. This research often originated outside Africa or by scholars using technocratic and western-centric models.

Interventions into these functionalist and generalizing appraisals is a work like Aderanti Adepoju and Christine Oppong's Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa (1994), which explores women's productive and reproductive roles in relation to kinship, conjugal relations and the connections between reproduction and production. Contributors' essays, dealing with different Southern African countries, collectively show how governments and donor agencies end up predicating developmental programmes on skewed or wholly abstract understandings of what women's work actually entails. A particular strength of this volume is its focus on Southern Africa, a region manifesting the highest rate of economic activity and fertility for women, while also demonstrating the highest global levels of maternal and child mortality. This volume clearly demonstrates the vast gap between policies and research ostensibly aimed at developing particularly impoverished women and the realities of women's working lives. Other studies of women in sub-Saharan Africa, most notably Hay and Stichter's African Women South of the Sahara (1995), return to the particular difficulties confronting women in this region and the inadequate responses to these difficulties of dominant perceptions, research and policy-making.

Other important works, like Belinda Bozzoli's Women of Phokeng: Conciousness, Life Strategy and Migrancy in South Africa (1991) and Horn's Cultivating Customers: Market Women in Harare (1994) offer detailed case studies for exploring the different levels of women's labour.  

Adepoju, A. 1994. “The Demographic Profile: Sustained High Mortality and Fertility and Migration for Employment”, in Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. 1994. Eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Afonja, S. 1986. "Changing Modes of Production and the Sexual Division of Labour Among the Yoruba”, in Leacock, E., Safa, H. et al. eds. Women's Work: Development and the Division of Labour by Gender. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey.

Afonja, S. 1986. "Land Control: A Critical Factor in Yoruba Gender Stratification", in Robertson, C. and Berger, I. eds. Women and Class in Africa. New York: Africana.

Altorki, S. and El Sohl, C. F. Eds. 1988. Arab Women in the Field: Studying Your Own Society. New York: Syracuse University Press.

Anker, R. 1994. “Measuring Women’s Participation in the African Labour Force”, in Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Apeji, S. 1985. “Unsung Heroines: Rural Women and Family Life in Nigeria”, in Imam, A., Pittin, R. and Omole, H. Women and the Family in Nigeria. Dakar: CODESRIA.

Bank, L. 1994. "Angry Men and Working Women: Gender Violence and Economic Change in Qwaqwa in the 1980s." African Studies, 53,1:89–114.

Bay, E. Ed. 1982. Women and Work in Africa. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.

Blanc, A. K. and Lloyd, C. B. 1994. “Women’s Work, Child-bearing and Child-rearing over the Life Cycle in Ghana”, in Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Boateng, E. 1994. “Gender-sensitive Statistics and the Planning Process”, in Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Bozzoli, B. 1991. Women of Phokeng: Consciousness, Life Strategy and Migrancy in South Africa. Portsmouth:  Heinemann, London: James Currey.

Bryceson, D. and Akram-Lodhi, A. Eds. 1995. Women Wielding the Hoe: Lessons from Rural Africa for Feminist Theory and Development Practice. Oxford: Berg Publishers.

Clark, M. 1984. "Women-headed Households and Poverty: Insights from Kenya." Signs: A Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 10.

Clark, G. 1994. Onions Are My Husband: Accumulation by West African Market Women. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Chiwawa, H. 1995. “Women on Co-operative Mines in Zimbabwe”, in Larsson, A., Schlyter, A., Sithole-Fundire, S. and Zhou, A. eds. Gender Research on Urbanisation, Planning, Housing and Everyday Life. Harare, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network.

Creevey, L. Ed. Women Farmers in Africa: Rural Development in Mali and the Sahel. New York: Syracuse University Press.

Date-Bah, E. 1984. "Rural Women, their Activities and Technology in Ghana: An Overview." Rural Women and Development in Africa. Geneva: International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Davidson, J. Ed. 1987. Agriculture, Women and the Land: The African Experience. Boulder: Westview.

Eldridge, E. A. 1991. "Women in Production: The Economic Role of Women in Nineteenth-Century Lesotho." Signs: A Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 16 (Summer).

Enabulele, A. 1985. “Childrearing and the Working Mother: Examples from Bendel State”, in Imam, A., Pittin, R. and Omole, H. 1985. Women and the Family in Nigeria. Dakar: CODESRIA.

Freeman, D. 1993. "Survival Strategy or Business Training Ground? The Significance of Urban Agriculture for the Advancement of Women in African Cities." African Studies Review, 36 (December):1-22.

Gaidzanwa, R. 1993. "Women Entrepreneurs, Donor Promotion and Domestic Policy," in Helmsing, A. H. J. and Kolstee, T. eds. Small Enterprises and Changing Policies: Structural Adjustment, Financial Policy and Assistance Programmes in Africa. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.

Gellen, K. 1994. "Expanding Women's Economic Knolwedge." African Farmer, (April).

Gellen, K. 1994. "Unleashing the Power of Women Farmers." African Farmer, 11:2-6.

Gladwin, C. and McMillan, D. 1989. "Is a Turnaround in Africa Possible Without Helping African Women to Farm?" Economic Development and Social Change, 37 (January).

Goldschmidt-Clermont, L. 1994. “Assessing Women’s Economic Contributions in Domestic and Related Activities”, in Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Guyer, J. 1980. "Food, Cocoa and the Division of Labour By Sex in Two West African Societies." Comparative Studies in Society and History, 22.

Guyer, J. 1991. "Female Farming in Anthropology and African History", in Di Leonardo, M. ed. Gender at the Crossroads of Knowledge. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.

Guyer, J. and Peters, P. 1987. "Conceptualizing the Household: Issues of Theory and Policy in Africa." Development and Change, 18, 2 April:197–213.

Gwagwa, N. 1995. “Women as ‘Home-Makers’ and Men as ‘Heads’ of Households: Who is Responsible for Housing Improvements?” in  Larsson, A., Schlyter, A., Sithole-Fundire, S. and Zhou, A. eds. Gender Research on Urbanisation, Planning, Housing and Everyday Life. Harare, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network.

Hall, E. 1990. "Vocational Training for Women Refugees in Africa." International Labour Review, 129, 1:91–107.

Hansen, K. 1992. African Encounters With Domesticity. New Brunswick. Rutgers University Press.

Hay, M. and Stichter, S. Eds. 1995. African Women South of the Sahara. Essex, Great Britain/NewYork: Scientific and Technical/J. Wiley.

Horn, N. 1994. Cultivating Customers: Market Women in Harare. Zimbabwe, London and Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

Ijere, M. Ed. 1991. Women in the Nigerian Economy. Enugu: Acena Publishers.

Imam, A. 1985. “Women and the Family: What is to be Done? ”, in Imam, A., Pittin, R. and Omole, H. Women and the Family in Nigeria. Dakar: CODESRIA.

Ingstad, B. 1994. “The Grandmother and Household Viability in Botswana”, in Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

International Labour Organization (ILO). 1986. "Women's Employment Patterns, Discrimination, and Promotion of Equality in Africa: The Case of Sierra Leone." Addis Ababa: ILO Jobs and Skills Programme for Africa.

International Labour Organization (ILO). 1994. "Women, Work and Poverty in Africa: Agenda for Action and the Proceedings: ILO Tripartite Seminar on the Impact of Economic Restructuring on Employment, Training and Working Conditions of Women." Geneva: ILO.

Iweriebor, I. 1985. “Women in the Family: Labour and Management, What Can be Done? ”, in Imam, A., Pittin, R. and Omole, H. 1985. Women and the Family in Nigeria. Dakar: CODESRIA.

Lima, T. 1994. "Women's Co-ops Spur Mozambican Farmers' Union." African Farmer, (April).

Mann, K. 1991. "Women, Landed Property and the Accumulation of Wealth in Early Colonial Lagos." Signs: A Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 16. (Summer).

Matete-Lieb, T. 1995. “Basotho Women’s Role in Urban Housing: The Case of Maseru”, in Larsson, A., Schlyter, A., Sithole-Fundire, S. and Zhou, A. eds. Gender Research on Urbanisation, Planning, Housing and Everyday Life. Harare, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network.

Mazur, R. E. and Mhloyi, M. 1994. Women’s Work and Fertility in Zimbabwe: Ending Underdevelopment with Change”, in Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Meer, F., Skweyiya, S., Jolube, S., Westmore, J. and Meer, S. Eds. 1991. Black Women Workers in South Africa. Durban: Madiba Publications, Institute for Black Research.

Mukurasi, L. 1991. Post Abolished: One Woman's Struggle for Employment Rights. London: Women's Press.

Nachudwa, D. 1995. “Women in Micro-Enterprises: The Case of Mbare, Zimbabwe”, in Larsson, A., Schlyter, A., Sithole-Fundire, S. and Zhou, A. eds. Gender Research on Urbanisation, Planning, Housing and Everyday Life. Harare, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network.

Nelson, N. 1988. "How Women and Men Get By: The Sexual Division of Labour in the Informal Sector of a Nairobi Squatter Settlement" in Gugler, J. ed. The Urbanization of the Third World. New York: Oxford University Press.

Nwaka, V. M. 1995. Women in Top Management in Uganda. Nairobi, Kenya: African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM).

Nyoni, S. 1986. "Africa's Food Crisis: Price of Ignoring Village Women?" Women and Environments, 8, Fall.

Nzomo, M. 1995. Women in Top Management in Kenya. Nairobi: African Associaion for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM).

Obbo, C. 1980. African Women: Their Struggle for Economic Independence. London: Zed Press.

Obbo, C. 1986. "Stratification and the Lives of Women in Uganda", in Robertson, C. and Berger, I. eds. Women and Class in Africa. New York: Africana Publishing Company.

Obbo, C. 1990. "East African Women, Work, and the Articulation of Dominance", in Tinder, I. ed. Persistent Equalities: Women and World Development. New York: Oxford Univeristy Press.

Ogunleye, B. 1993. "Local Initiative: Key to Women's Voice in Global Decision Making for a Healthy Environment in Africa." Women and Environments, 13: 3–4.

Ofusu, Y. 1994. “Breastfeeding and Birth Spacing: Erosion of West African Traditions”, in Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Rembe, S. 1995. “Credit Facilities for Housing for Women: A Case Study of Maseru, Lesotho”, in Larsson, A., Schlyter, A., Sithole-Fundire, S. and Zhou, A. eds. Gender Research on Urbanisation, Planning, Housing and Everyday Life. Harare, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network.

Robertson, C. 1984. Sharing the Same Bowl: A Socio-Economic History of Women and Class in Accra, Ghana. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Robertson, C. 1988. "Invisible Workers: African Women and the Problem of the Self-Employed in Labour History." Journal of Asian and African Studies, 23 (January and April).

Robertson, C. 1995. "Trade, Gender and Poverty in the Nairobi Area: Women's Strategies for Survival and Independence in the 1980s", in Blumberg, L. et al. eds. Engendering Wealth and Well-being: Empowerment for Global Change. Boulder: Westview.

Robertson, C. and Berger I. 1986. Eds. Women and Class in Africa. New York: Africana Publishing House.

Rwezaura, B. 1995. "Parting the Long Grass: Revealing and Reconceptualising the African Family." Journal of Legal Pluralism, 35:25–73.

Safilios-Rothschild, C. 1994. “Agricultural Policies and Women Producers”, in Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Schoepf, B. G. 1992. "Gender Relations and Development: Political Economy and Culture", in Seidman, A. and Anang, F. eds. Twenty-First Century Africa: Towards a New Vision of Self-Sustainable Development.

Seghore, I. and Bojang-Sissoho, A. 1994. "Women's Wisdom: Banking on Themselves." African Farmer, (April).

Sithole-Fundire, S. 1995. “Gender Issues Amongst Dombo Tombo Lodgers: A Case Study Approach”, in Larsson, A., Schlyter, A., Sithole-Fundire, S. and Zhou, A. eds. Gender Research on Urbanisation, Planning, Housing and Everyday Life. Harare, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network.

Stichter, S. and Parpart, J. Eds. 1988. Patriarchy and Class: African Women in the Home and the Workplace. Boulder: Westview.

Strobel, M. 1983. "Slavery and Reproductive Labor in Mombasa", in Robertson, C. and Klein, M. eds. Women and Slavery in Africa. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Tripp, A. 1989. "Women and the Changing Household Economy in Urban Tanzania." The Journal of Modern African Studies. 27, 4:601–623.

VerEecke, C. 1989. Cultural Construction of Women's Economic Marginality: The Fulbe of North-Eastern Nigeria. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Office of Women in International Development. Working Paper 195.

Von Bulow, D. and Sorenson, A. 1993. "Gender and Contract Farming: Outgrower Schemes in Kenya." Review of African Political Economy, 20, 56:38-52.

White, L. 1990. The Comforts of Home: Women and Prostitution in Colonial Nairobi. University of Chicago Press.

Whitehead, A. 1994. “Wives and Mothers: Female Farmers in Africa”, in Adepoju, A. and Oppong, C. eds. Gender, Work and Population in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: James Currey, New Hampshire: Heinemann. International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Zeleza, P. T. 1987. Labour, Unionization and Women's Participation in Kenya, 1963–1987. Nairobi: Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

Zeleza, P. T. 1988. "Women and the Labour Process in Kenya Since Independence." Transafrican Journal of History, 17:69-107.