African Women in Revolution

by Wunyabari O. Maloba

This book is an ambitious, extensive and detailed analysis of the roles played by African women in seven revolutionary movements in post World War 11 Africa. The revolutionary movements covered in this book occurred Algeria, Kenya, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The book describes and analyzes the nature and impact of women s participation in these revolutionary movements. How did these revolutionary movements define women s liberation? What is the linkage between feminist theories of liberation and national liberation? Did the national liberation movements betray women? And what has been the fate of the original commitments (and impulses) toward women s liberation and gender equality? At its center, this is a pioneering broad interpretive work. Drawing on the theoretical formulations and advances in economics and economic theory, political science, sociology, anthropology, education, history (of several countries), and feminist studies, this book is a significant contribution to the study of African women s history and struggle in recent African history. For the first time, African women s struggles for liberation in these movements are studied, and analyzed under one roof . By considering seven movements in one book, Maloba provides opportunities for both direct and indirect comparison. Also considered is the destructive impact of globalization on African women. The case studies of Senegal, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe show not only how each country has been affected, but the specific effects on women and their families; how household economy and gender relations are continually adjusting to the challenges posed by globalization. This timely and valuable book is written without jargon. It demonstrates that some social questions, like the status of women in society, are best understood if they are studied in an interdisciplinary manner, and not limited to one discipline. Maloba also makes it clear that the status of wo

Genres: Africa, Feminism, Nonfiction, History

316 pages, Paperback

Published March 26, 2007

Reviews

[Mwanabibi Sikamo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should really be entitled 'The negative impact of colonisation and subsequent strategies of the World Bank and the IMF in Africa'. While it does address the role of women in the struggles against colonial rule I found it more useful in opening my eyes to the some of the reasons why african countries are still lagging far behind the rest of the world despite all the aid and other 'help' that has been offered. The author makes a particularly strong argument against the role of Structural Adjustment Programmes pointing out that as a result of these programmes many africans where much poorer and women could be said to have suffered dispropotionately. This, the author argues, manifests itself in the fact that fewer families will choose to send girls to school due to lack of money and the need for labour at home. There is also a very good critique of the ill effects of globolisation in many african countries. If you are looking for specific examples of women who were revolutionaries in Africa this is probably the wrong book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in why Africa as a continent is still predominantly very poor. It also shows the way in which african women work hard for the betterment of their families as a necessity rather than because of some prescribed ideology.

[Ñukñu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was assigned to read this book as part of my voluntary political reeducation to combat patriarchal and misogynistic tendencies in past, present, and future behavior.

The book begins with a preface discussing the importance of the woman question when discussing revolutionary movements. It becomes more precise in focusing on seven revolutionary movements in post-World War II Africa. These movements occurred in: Algeria, Kenya, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. There’s brief mentions of neocolonialism and the differences between Western and African feminisms. The introduction is exhaustive and begins by touching on those themes of neocolonialism and African feminism. Then in order it begins to describe briefly the context of each movement and their key takeaways. The chapters that follow group some of these movements together to give more detail to their context; Chapter 1 discusses Algeria and Kenya, Chapter 2 Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Angola, and Chapter 3 Zimbabwe and South Africa. The last chapter before the Notes, Bibliography, and Index is on Globalization and Women in Africa, where the author goes into more detail on how the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank work on behalf of imperialist nations to keep African countries and in turn African women in a dependent and underdeveloped state.

There’s so much valuable information in this book. I found myself writing a summary when I began this review and was at about three pages describing the introduction when I reflected that I was taking the wrong course. As the author says, this study is very important for those who want to change the world and understand that imperialism is a primary obstacle to this change. This book will give you the historical context and evidence to articulate the position that women’s liberation must be tied to national liberation, a cultural revolution must be started and continued until society is completely transformed, and that reconstruction must include the state as it is organized and operated.

As for my reeducation, my proletarian feminist and nationalist views have been reinforced. I understand the necessity to articulate a women’s liberation line from the beginning of a struggle and that there must be organizational and systemic structures to reinforce the values of equality among the genders.