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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Markets and Gardens: Placing Women in the History of Urban Mozambique |
Author: | Sheldon, Kathleen E. |
Year: | 2003 |
Periodical: | Canadian Journal of African Studies |
Volume: | 37 |
Issue: | 2-3 |
Pages: | 358-395 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Mozambique |
Subjects: | urbanization women's employment women Urbanization and Migration Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Women's Issues Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Economics and Trade History and Exploration Historical/Biographical economics agriculture Sex Roles |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/4107243 |
Abstract: | Women's choices about how to make a living in Mozambique have had a decisive impact on the development of Mozambican cities, and urbanization has likewise informed women's experience of work both within and outside their homes. Looking at markets, gardens, and other ways that women have supported themselves and their families reveals changes over time and shifts in the uses of urban space. This article focuses on the urban work history of women who moved into or who were born in Maputo, Beira, and other cities. It highlights a circuitous path of development that includes new ways of living such as urban market vending and prostitution, while simultaneously continuing with familiar practices such as brewing beer and producing food to feed their families. Women's stories demonstrate that there was not a simple trajectory of migrating to the city and becoming an urban worker, as was more often the case with men. While African historians have drawn attention to the division between urban and rural African life, the persistence of women's agricultural labour serves to blur these divisions. At the same time, urban women constantly crossed boundaries into new work and new lifestyles, making their presence known on city streets and in urban neighbourhoods. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in French. [ASC Leiden abstract] |