This extensive study of gender and trade in Nairobi is “a powerful contribution to African social, economic, and women’s history. Highly recommended” (Choice). Herskovitz Award–winner Claire Robertson employs a variety of approaches to analyze and weave together this wide-ranging study. Her book provides a case study of historical transformations in gender, agriculture, residence, and civil society. Based on archival documents, library sources (fiction and nonfiction, primary and secondary), surveys and oral histories, participant observation, and quantitative and qualitative analysis, Robertson breaks new ground by focusing on traders in one commodity, dried staples, and comparing and contrasting the evolution of women’s trade with men’s trade. “An important resource for anyone interested in the history of women and trade in modern Kenya. . . .” —International Journal of African Historical Studies “A landmark study, meticulously executed and written. . . . it will have a wide impact on some of the most significant questions facing the disciplines of history, anthropology, political science, and development economics.” —Gracia Clark
Relates women's involvement in the staples trade to enhanced self-confidence, the rise of women's organizations, and changes in government policies. Examining this commodity, often taken for granted like the women traders, the author suggests other areas of exploration - women developing new relationships to their world.
Here is the life history of Berida Ndambuki, a Kenyan woman trader born in 1936, who speaks movingly of her experiences under the turbulences of late British colonialism and independence. A poverty survivor, Berida overcame patriarchal constraints to reclaim the rights to her labor, her body, and her spirit. She invokes a many-faceted picture of central Kenyan life in this compelling narrative.
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