Women's contribution to development and the effects of rural change on women and their role in production and reproduction. A selection of recent literature on women in Africa
Bulow, D. von
CDR Project Paper, Centre for Development Research, Denmark (A.83.5): 32
1983
Document Number: 272378
By far the largest share of literature on women in Africa deals with women's role in agricultural production and how they have been affected by rural development. This literature can be divided into two categories: (1) those writers who see women as left out of the development process and perceive them as important but underestimated contributors to development, and (2) those writers who take as their point of departure an analysis of the effects of rural change on women and their role in production and reproduction. This way of dividing up the literature is held to constitute a useful way of distinguishing various approaches which on the surface seem to deal with the same topic "women and development" or "women and rural change", but which have quite different implications for the study of women. It is illustrated in the presentation of the two categories of literature. A third category of literature presents more abstract theoretical studies. These do not deal specifically with women in Africa, although they have provided important supportive contributions to the second category of literature referred to. A selection of the more important references has been included to stress the importance of basic theoretical developments and relationships.