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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | High bridewealth, migrant labour and the position of women in Lesotho |
Author: | Murray, Colin |
Year: | 1977 |
Periodical: | Journal of African Law |
Volume: | 21 |
Pages: | 79-96 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Lesotho |
Subjects: | women family marriage labour migration |
Abstract: | This paper explains the persistence of high bridewealth in Lesotho. It argues that the structural conditions of its persistence have changed over time and it develops a macro-economic perspective on which to apprehend its contemporary significance. The outstanding theme of Lesotho's economic history is the transition from granary to labour reserve. Thus oscillating migration assumed greater functional significance in determining the conditions of household viability at the same time as it undermined the stability of the household. Women play a critical role 1. within the household which consists of a migrant and his relict kin in the rural area, and 2. between households in the rural area. This offers the key to understanding the persistence of bridewealth as high as in the 19th century. Sections of the paper: Social and economic changes Contemporary constraints on household development and dissolution. Theoretical discussion - Conclusion. Notes; ref.; three household profiles in an Appendix. |