Myth of the African Family in the World of Development

bibliographic database
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Book chapter

Title:	Myth of the African Family in the World of Development
Author:	O'Laughlin, Bridget
Book title:	Women Wielding the Hoe: Lessons from Rural Africa for Feminist Theory and Development Practice
Year:	1995
Pages:	63-91
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Chad Mozambique
Subjects:	gender relations family rural women Cultural Roles Family Life Labor and Employment Development and Technology Sex Roles
Abstract:	The author disputes the critical point in the myth of the African family system, namely the notion that in Africa the conjugal bond is 'traditionally' weak, reflecting the predominance of women's labour in farming systems and the importance of lineage ties. She first critically looks at the theoretical debates underlying the analysis of African family systems. She argues that weak conjugal ties cannot be derived a priori either from the structure of African lineage systems, or from the precolonial gender division of labour. She then uses some of her own research experience in Tchad and Mozambique to show that assuming the weakness of conjugal ties and focussing on women's own-account farming creates a distorted and partial view of the problems confronting women in rural Africa. Despite great diversity in the organization of production and reproduction, enduring conjugal relations of both cooperation and conflict between husbands and wives are common in rural Africa. Bibliogr., notes, ref.