Advertisement

Women in Pre-colonial Africa: West Africa

  • Cyrelene Amoah-BoampongEmail author
  • Christabel Agyeiwaa
Living reference work entry
First Online:

Abstract

Women in pre-colonial West Africa were not a homogenous group that lived static lives relegated to the domestic sphere. Women contested, negotiated, complemented, and transformed their societies through their diverse roles in the political, social, religious, and economic realities of pre-colonial life in West Africa. This chapter presents this dynamic history, foregrounding the dynamics of society and social life within which women from Asante to Mali to Zazzau participated in public life, social and economic production and reproduction, and spiritual life. In sum, pre-colonial West African societies valued women, and while the entry of colonial states and religions was definitive in altering this, further research is required to better understand how women created space for themselves within both broad historical eras.

Keywords

Pre-colonial Africa Women Gender complementarity Economy Politics Religion 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Achebe, N. (2011). The female king of colonial Nigeria: Ahebi Ugbabe. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
  2. Achebe, N., Adu-Gyamfi, S., Alie, J., Ceesay, H., Green, T., Hirribarren, V., & Ampadu, B.-K. (2018). History textbook: West African Senior School Certificate Examination. http://wasscehistorytextbook.com.
  3. Adjaye, J. (1999). Dangerous crossroads: Liminality and contested meaning in Krobo (Ghana) dipo girls’ initiation. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 12(1), 5–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Adu-Boahen, K. (2018). Female agency in a cultural confluence: Women, trade and politics in seventeenth-eighteenth-century Gold Coast. In J. Osei-Tutu & V. Smith (Eds.), Shadows of empire in West Africa: New perspectives on European fortifications (pp. 169–199). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Akyeampong, E. (2000). Wo pe tam wo pe ba (You like cloth but you don’t want children):Urbanization, individualism & gender relations in colonial Ghana c.1900–39. In D. Anderson & R. Rathbone (Eds.), Africa’s urban past (pp. 222–234). Oxford: James Currey.Google Scholar
  6. Akyeampong, E., & Fofack, H. (2012). The contribution of African women to economic growth and development: Historical perspectives and policy implications. Policy Research Working Papers, 1–39.  https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-6051.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Akyeampong, E., & Obeng, P. (1995). Spirituality, gender, and power in Asante history. The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 28(3), 481–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Allman, J., Geiger, S., & Musisi, N. (Eds.). (2002). Women in African colonial histories. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
  9. Amadiume, I. (1987). Male daughters, female husbands: Gender and sex in an African society. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
  10. Anquandah, J. (2006). The traditional Potter’s craft. Retrieved from http://www.ghanaculture.gov.gh/modules/
  11. Benson, S., & Duffield, M. (1979). Women’s work and economic change: The Hausa in Sudan and in Nigeria. IDS Bulletin, 10(9), 13–19.Google Scholar
  12. Berger, I. (2003). African women’s history: Themes and perspectives. Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, 4(1).  https://doi.org/10.1353/cch.2003.005.
  13. Boone, S. (1986). Radiance from the waters: Ideals of feminine beauty in Mende art. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
  14. Coquery-Vidrovitch, C. (1997). African women: A modern history. Boulder: Westview Press.Google Scholar
  15. David, S. (1984). Women leaders in African history. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
  16. Diop, C. (1978). The cultural unity of black Africa. Chicago: Third World Press.Google Scholar
  17. Falola, T., & Amponsah, N. (2012). Women’s roles in sub-saharan Africa. Oxford: Greenwood.Google Scholar
  18. Herbert, E. (1993). Iron, gender, and power: Rituals of transformation in African societies. Bloomington: Indiana, University Press.Google Scholar
  19. Kilson, M. (1976). Women in African traditional religions. Journal of Religion in Africa, 8(2), 133–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Kriger, C. (1993). Textile production and gender in the Sokoto caliphate. Journal of African History, 34(3), 361–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. MacCormack, C. (1979). Sande: The public face of a secret society. In B. Jules-Rosette (Ed.), The new religion of Africa: Priest and priestess in contemporary cults and churches. Norwood: Ablex.Google Scholar
  22. Mba, N. (1982). Nigerian women mobilized: Women’s political activity in southern Nigeria, 1900–1965. Berkeley: University of California Institute of International Studies.Google Scholar
  23. Nkansa-Kyeremateng, K. (2004). The Akans of Ghana: Their customs, history and institutions. Accra: Sebenic Publishers.Google Scholar
  24. Odotei, I. (2005). Women in the male corridors of power. In I. Odotei & A. Awedoba (Eds.), Chieftaincy in Ghana: Culture, governance and development (pp. 81–100). Accra: Sub-Saharan.Google Scholar
  25. Ogbomo, O., & Ogbomo, Q. (1993). Women and society in pre-colonial Iyede. Anthropos, 88, 431–441.Google Scholar
  26. Phillott-Almeida, R. (1994). A profile of the roles of women as economic producers and family supporters in the Gambia. Dakar: UNESCO.Google Scholar
  27. Quarcoo, A., & Johnson, M. (1968). Shai Pots: The pottery tradition of the Shai people of southern Ghana. Baessler -Archiv, 16, 47–88.Google Scholar
  28. Rattary, R. (1929). Ashanti law and constitution. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
  29. Sheldon, K. (2017). African women: Early history to the 21st century. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Steegsta, M. (2005). Dipo and the politics of culture in Ghana. Accra: Woeli Publishing Services.Google Scholar
  31. Sudarkasa, N. (1986). The status of women in indigenous African societies. Feminist Studies, 12(1), 91–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Tashjian, V., & Allman, J. (2002). Marrying and marriage on a shifting terrain: Reconfigurations of power in early colonial Asante. In J. Allman, S. Geiger, & N. Musisi (Eds.), Women in African colonial histories (pp. 237–259). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
  33. Wilks, I. (1993). She who blazed a trail: Akyaawa Yikwan of Asante. In I. Wilks (Ed.), Forests of gold: Essays on the Akan and the kingdom of Asante (pp. 329–361). Athens: Ohio University Press.Google Scholar
  34. Yankah, K. (1992). Traditional Lore in population communication: The case of the Akan in Ghana. Africa Media Review, 6(1), 15–24.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of HistoryUniversity of GhanaAccraGhana

Section editors and affiliations

  • Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Political Science and Public AdministrationBabcock UniversityIlishan RemoNigeria

Personalised recommendations

Cite entry