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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:La Revolte des Femmes: Economic Upheaval and the Gender of Political Authority in Lome, Togo, 1931-33
Author:Lawrance, Benjamin N.ISNI
Year:2003
Periodical:African Studies Review
Volume:46
Issue:1
Period:April
Pages:43-67
Language:English
Geographic terms:Togo
France
Subjects:gender relations
Ewe
resistance
colonialism
market women
History and Exploration
Women's Issues
Politics and Government
Education and Oral Traditions
Labor and Employment
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Historical/Biographical
Cultural Roles
economics
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/1514980
Abstract:In 1932, the governor of French Togoland announced an increase in taxes on Lomé market women because of the economic downturn caused by the Depression. Both the indigenous city council and a clandestine resistance movement opposed this fiscal plan, warning of social unrest. The strain triggered a protest by market women that spread beyond the colonial capital. This article offers a new explanation of the explosive tension by arguing that an organized male political campaign conjoined with a socioeconomic protest led by market women. It explores women's resistance as a performance of voodoo ritual as a vehicle of shame and protest. Ultimately, the violent, culturally marked protests marked the gendered perimeters of political authority for both Ewe women and men and further defined Ewe market women's conception of an Ewe self and the emergence of conflicting and contested notions of 'Eweness' as a prelude to the independence struggles. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]
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