Image of Poor Women and Nationalist Politics: Alliances and Fissures in the Formation of a Nationalist Political Movement in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1950-6

Gender and Sexuality

Poor Women and Nationalist Politics: Alliances and Fissures in the Formation of a Nationalist Political Movement in Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1950-6

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THE expression of gender relations in the politics of African Salisbury in the I95OS was influenced by a highly competitive urban labor market and compounded by residential segregation, state intervention and demographic pressures. The incorporation or rejection of women's political roles within African nationalist movements in such a complex historical setting have been difficult processes for historians to capture. The most obvious route for inclusion of women in nationalist histories has been to assert that women participated too, although in many cases relegating their contributions to ancillary roles in 'Women's Leagues'.1 Such approaches have not adequately addressed reasons for the lack of success women have had in making their own demands a fundamental part of nationalist and post-independence political agendas. The easy answer to these disappointments is that the male- dominated nationalist leadership deceived women, creating political ideo- logies that only tacitly acknowledged women's demands in return for their support in the struggle; such an argument has been used to explain the failure of class-specific promises as well. A more useful approach, originating from a feminist perspective, has centered on the contradictions and clashes between women and men to emphasize the reality of separate struggles.

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English
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Nationalist Politics
Alliances and Fissures
Poor Women
Feminist perspective
Nationalist Political Movement
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