Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home African Women Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Women and Wages: Gender and the Control of Income in Farm and Bantustan Households
Authors:Sharp, John S.ISNI
Spiegel, Andrew D.ISNI
Year:1990
Periodical:Journal of Southern African Studies
Volume:16
Issue:3
Period:September
Pages:527-549
Language:English
Geographic terms:South Africa
Qwaqwa
Transkei
Subjects:women's employment
household income
women
women's work
Women's Issues
Economics and Trade
Labor and Employment
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Ethnic and Race Relations
Cultural Roles
economics
Marital Relations and Nuptiality
migration
Status of Women
Sex Roles
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/2636893
Abstract:Concentrating on gender relationships, this article compares two bantustan areas in South Africa: the Matatiele district in the Transkei and Qwaqwa in the Orange Free State. Significant characteristics all bantustans in South Africa share are the overwhelming dependence of households on income derived from remittances, and the fact that migrant contract employment opportunities are mainly restricted to men. This article looks at the way in which different local experiences of the overall process of capitalist development have shaped people's perceptions of propriety in gender relationships and the nature of the relationships themselves. In Qwaqwa, virtually all of the married men were opposed to their wives' engaging in local income-generating activities; the main target of male opprobrium being shebeening and door-to-door hawking. In Matatiele, where many households had direct access to arable resources, it was allowed that women used a small portion of the grain harvested to brew beer for sale. This difference in perception needs to be explained not only in the context of local circumstances, but also in terms of the macro-level processes of capitalist expansion. The remainder of this article describes the experiences of people on white-owned farms in the Orange Free State prior to their relocation to Qwaqwa and considers the situation in Matatiele over time, showing some of the continuities and changes in social relationships in this area. Ref.
Views
Cover