Ideologies and the Construction of Class Amongst African Women in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1930-1960
Date
1992-03-30
Authors
Barnes, Terri
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Abstract
In order to extend the range of studies of wonen, class and
ideology in southern Africa,2 this paper attempts to
disaggregate the nass of African wonen who lived in colonial
Harare (Salisbury) and other Southern Rhodesian towns by the
1950s.3 Two nain argunents will be advanced. First,
disaggregation is best attempted in terns of class analysis.
Because the situation of urban African populations in the period
under review does not precisely natch the classis categories of
class analysis, however, an additional concept will be utilized
in one case:4 being "well-known" will be used to flesh out the
neaning of belonging to the snail petty-bourgeoisie of urban
communities. Secondly, the erection of a class structure amongst
African women is then examined in terms of the beliefs that were
held at the state and connunity levels about the proper place of
wonen in urban society. These beliefs are terned ideologies, and
it will be shown that domesticity and dependence were tha
cornerstones of acceptable fenale behaviour.
Two aspects of the paper are initially explained. First, I
think it is insufficient to automatically assign women to the
class of their nale relatives, and so it is necessary to consider
other factors when trying to analyze class positions amongst
women. Secondly, the basis for class differentiation between
urban population groups in a settler-dominated political economy
was ownership of or access to land, the urban expression of which
was housing.
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 30 March 1992
Keywords
Women. Zimbabwe