Coquery-Vidrovitch, Catherine : Paris-7 Denis Diderot

Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch is professor of contemporary history and head of the Graduate Studies Program on the Third World and Africa at the University of Paris-7 Denis Diderot. A renowned historian of sub-Saharan Africa, she has taught at most of the French-speaking African universities and has held visiting positions at Princeton and Binghamton universities. Among her many publications, Afrique noire: Permanences et Ruptures (also published in English as Africa: Endurance and Changes South of the Sahara) was awarded the Aumale prize of the Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques.

"A cornucopia of historical and contemporary information about the life of women south of the Sahara.... An essential work for all libraries."

--Choice

"A welcome and valuable addition to the literature.... A must for all college and university libraries."

--American Historical Review

"It is a fascinating journey for anyone interested in the continent and its development, not just those seeking information about women and their role."

--International Affairs

"[A] pathbreaking effort.... Fills a conspicuous gap in African studies."

--Foreign Affairs

"It is a great and very timely contribution for our limited knowledge of African women's history. A wonderful textbook."

--Bogumil Jewciewsicki, Universite Laval, Quebec, Canada

"This sweeping overview of the role women have played in Africa-in the pre-modern, colonial, and postindependence eras-offers a needed and welcome perspective and fills a big lacuna in the worldwide study of women today. Required reading both for those concerned with gender and for students of Africa."

--Immanuel Wallerstein, Binghamton University

"It has the strengths of thoughtful, scholarly analysis, with all that that implies in terms of coverage of the literature and critical analytical insight. The breadth of coverage is impressive, including different time periods, different regions, and both urban and rural contexts. Also admirable is the author's attempt to discern general patterns, even while remaining attentive to local variations."

--Catharine Newbury, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"Learned yet readable, encyclopedic and highly complex yet perfectly clear, Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch's African Women: A Modern History is not only the first systematic study of sub-Saharan women but also an exemplary research in the French tradition of the Annales school. By its method, aim, and purpose, the book is African history at its best, and it should be a must for any scholar in social sciences and humanities."

--Valentin Y. Mudimbe, Stanford University and Duke University

"Now visible as actors in the life of the community, creators in their own right, [women] are emerging as the bearers of deep transformations in African societies and cultures.... This complex movement is the subject of Coquery-Vidrovitch's rich and thoroughly researched account."

--Le Monde(on the French edition)

"A remarkably informed synthesis. The author gives priority to the social and economic. In her view, the history of African women is, first and foremost, the history of their labor."

--La Libération (on the French edition)

Perseus Books Group Web Site, March, 2000

Over the last century, the social and economic roles played by African women have evolved dramatically. Long confined to home and field, overlooked by their menfolk and missionaries alike, African women worked, thought, dreamed, and struggled. They migrated to the cities, invented new jobs, and activated the so-called informal economy to become Africa's economic and social focal point. As a result, despite their lack of education and relatively low status, women are now Africa's best hope for the future. This sweeping and innovative book is the first to reconstruct the full history of women in sub-Saharan Africa. Tracing the lot of African women from the eve of the colonial period to the present, Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch explores the stages and forms of women's collective roles as well as their individual emancipation through revolts, urban migrations, economic impacts, social claims, political strength, and creativity. Comparing case studies drawn from throughout the region, she sheds light on issues ranging from gender to economy, politics, society, and culture. Utilizing an impressive array of sources, she highlights broad general patterns without overlooking crucial local variations. With its breadth of coverage and clear analysis of complex questions, this book is destined to become a standard text for scholars and students alike.

Introduction


Nineteenth-Century Women

Peasant Women
Slave Women
Women and Trade at the Dawn of Colonialism
Powerful Women
Female Identity and Culture

From The Country To The City

Rural Women and Colonialism
Women and Urban Migration

Women In The City From Colonization To Independence

The Urban Condition
Women and Trade
Domestic Service
Prostitution: From "Free" Women to Women with AIDS
Women and Factory Work
Women and Poverty: The Future of Female Informal-Sector Employment

Women And Modern Life

Women and School
Women and Politics: Resistance and Action in West Africa
Women and Politics: Delay in Zaire
Women and Politics: The Wars for National Liberation
Sexuality and Emancipation

Conclusion: The Future