Women in Twentieth-Century Africa

Iris Berger is Professor of History, Emerita at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She is the author of South Africa in World History (2009), Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: Restoring Women to History, with E. Frances White (1999); Threads of Solidarity: Women in South African Industry, 1900–1980 (1992); and the award-winning Religion and Resistance: East African Kingdoms in the Precolonial Period (1981). She is also the co-editor of African Asylum at a Crossroads: Activism, Expert Testimony and Refugee Rights (2015) and Women and Class in Africa (1986) and a past President of the African Studies Association.

• Introduction; 1. Colonizing African families; 2. Confrontation and adaptation; 3. Domesticity and modernization; 4. Mothers of nationalism; 5. The struggle continues; 6. 'Messengers of a new design': marriage, family and sexuality; 7. Women's rights: the second decolonization?; 8. Empowerment and inequality in a new global age; Conclusion.

'Finally, a lucid, concise and lively synthesis of scholarly work on women in twentieth-century Africa suitable for undergraduates. Berger features life history, fiction, and song to bring major dynamics in African history to life, firmly placing African women at the center of her narrative. She retains a strong authorial voice but succeeds in leaving the reader room for reflection and debate. The book also includes a useful discussion of references for further reading; it will prove a valuable resource for students and researchers. Women in Twentieth-Century Africa would be suitable for use in general courses on African history as well as more focused courses on women and gender.' Barbara Cooper, Rutgers University, New Jersey