865363471     

986536347X                        

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Women in twentieth-century Africa / Iris Berger

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2016

1 online resource (xvi, 233 pages)

Englisch

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 06 May 2016)

Erscheint auch als: (Druck-Ausgabe)

978-0-511-97997-2 (Online); 978-0-521-51707-2 (Print); 978-0-521-74121-7 (Print)

978-0-521-51707-2 (ISBN der Printausgabe)

OCoLC: 956333007     

Elektronische Ressource: Zugang über Resolving-System (Lizenzangabe: Lizenzpflichtig)

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1017/CBO9780511979972

HQ1787

LOC-SH: Women -- Africa -- Social conditions ; Women -- Africa -- Economic conditions ; Feminism -- Africa ; Women -- Africa -- History -- 20th century

Women ; Africa ; History ; 20th century ; Feminism ; Africa ; Women ; Africa ; Social conditions ; Women ; Africa ; Economic conditions

During a turbulent colonial and postcolonial century, African women struggled to control their own marital, sexual and economic lives and to gain a significant voice in local and national politics. This book introduces students to many remarkable women, who organized religious and political movements, fought in anti-colonial wars, ran away to escape arranged marriages, and during the 1990s began successful campaigns for gender parity in national legislatures. The book also explores the apparent paradox in the conflicting images of African women - as singularly oppressed and dominated by men, but also as strong, resourceful, and willing to challenge governments and local traditions to protect themselves and their families. Understanding the tension between women's power and their oppression, between their strength and their vulnerability, offers a new lens for understanding the relationship between the state and society in the twentieth century