Mothers of nationalism (original) (raw)

Mothers on the March: Iraqw Women Negotiating the Public Sphere in Tanzania

Africa Today, 2006

This article explores the role of women's marches among the Iraqw in rural Tanzania. It focuses on the role of mothers in gender identity and how this role gives women the moral authority to act collectively. It shows how gender roles have been redefined in the colonial and postcolonial era. In particular, it focuses on the effects of the imposition of a divided public/private sphere and the subsequent devaluation of the social roles of women, and specifically mothers. Finally, it examines how Iraqw mothers, through the cultural institution of the protest march, are seeking to reclaim a role in the public sphere.

Frieda von Bülow and Bibi Titi Mohamed. (De)Colonized Feminism in Tanzania

The Politics of Biography in Africa, 2021

Bringing together historians, political scientists, and literary analysts, this volume shows how biographical narratives can shed light on alternative, littleknown, or under-researched aspects of state power in African politics. Part 1 shows how biographical narratives breathe new life into subjects who, upon decolonization, had been reduced to silence-women, workers, and radical politicians. The contributors analyze the complex relationship between biographical narratives and power, questioning either the power of biographical codes peculiar to Western, colonial origins, or the power to shape public memory. Part 2 reflects on the act of (auto-)biography writing as an exercise of power, one that blurs the lines between truth and invention. (Auto-) biographical narratives appear as politicized, ambiguous stories. Part 3 focuses on female leadership during and after colonization, exploring how women gained, lost, or reinvented "power." Brought together, the contributions of this volume show that the function of biographical narratives should no longer oscillate between romanticized narratives and historical evidence; their varied formats all offer fruitful opportunities for a multidisciplinary dialogue. This book will be of interest to scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds working on the African post-colonial state, the decolonization process, women's and gender studies, and biography writing.

Resistance to Women's Ethnic Narratives in Tanzania: Two Perspectives on Identity

African Journal of Teacher Education, 2015

Two Tanzanian activists, Ruth Meena and Elieshi Lema, resist identification with their local ethnic groups in deference to their identity formation with nationalism and feminism. Both maintain that ethnicity is a politically charged term based on a colonial construct that favors patriarchy and describes all women’s ethnicity generically without questioning their positionality. Meena as a political scientist at the University of Dar es Salaam and Lema as a writer and editor of E & D Publishing, provide evidence for their professional roles having moved beyond ethnic boundaries due to their educational opportunities and the influence of feminist thinking. In the construction of their culture, as activists, scholars, teachers, and writers, they have re-imagined how to live their lives, so that they could actively participate in the struggle for nationhood, gender equality, educational access, economic independence and community development. Meena and Lema have also demonstrated throug...

African Women's Movements

2008

Women burst onto the political scene in Africa after the 1990s, claiming more than one-third of the parliamentary seats in countries such as Burundi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Women in Rwanda hold the highest percentage of legislative seats in the world. Women's movements lobbied for constitutional reforms and new legislation to expand women's rights. This book examines the convergence of factors behind these dramatic developments, including the emergence of autonomous women's movements, changes in international and regional norms regarding women's rights and representation, the availability of new resources to advance women's status, and the end of civil conflict. The book focuses on the cases of Cameroon, Mozambique, and Uganda, situating these countries in the broader African context. The authors provide a fascinating analysis of the way in which women are transforming the political landscape in Africa by bringing to bear their unique perspectives as scholars who have also been parliamentarians, transnational activists, and leaders in these movements.

Democratisation in Tanzania: Women's Associations and the Potential for Empowerment

2015

This manuscript has been reproduced from the micdilm master. UMI films the text diredly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, s o m thesis and dissertation copies are in typemiter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality d this mproduction k dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, cdored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print Meedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can advewly atled reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauttro&ed copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.9.. maps, drawings, charts) are teproducd by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand wmer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs induded in the original manuscript have been repraduad ...