THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF HISTORYName: Nalumino L. Namwanyi Computer no:512805891 Assignment One: To what extent would you argue that the historiography of Central Africa demonstrates division of labour between men and women during the pre-colonial period? Due: 24th August 2012 Lecturer: Professor B. J. Phiri this paper looks at what various scholars have written on how productive activities were shared among various Central African peoples. making of pots from clay. Of this paper’s interest are the tasks he mentions that were assigned by gender. building and maintenance of granaries. preparation of food. He explains that different economic activities and consequently. clearing virgin land and already existing fields for crop production.Division of labour is the time saving arrangement giving parts of the manufacturing process to different persons. the changes they undergo. The most basic of these categories: gender. food finding activities like hunting. and cooking of food among many others. hunting. women and children were expected to do specific tasks in society. Achim Von Oppen also acknowledges that there was a clear division of labour among the Upper Zambezi ethnic groups. and craft making. gathering and agriculture. differential involvement in 2 . sinking of wells. Chondoka’s work in general. shows that the division of labour among the Senga and Tumbuka societies meant that men. weeding rice and sorghum fields. namely. fetching of firewood. are related to the different categories of the producers. age and location. and many other tasks. seem to have been based on certain physical characteristics. drawing water for all domestic uses.1 To investigate the extent to which one might argue that the historiography of pre-colonial Central Africa demonstrates division of labour. It looks at what has been written on activities like: house keeping.2 Women’s tasks included mostly what Chondoka calls unpleasant tasks like: collecting and heaping what the men had cut and left behind when clearing the land. He lists among men’s tasks the following: acquiring and manufacturing of agricultural implements. 4 This also included the provision of drinking water for men. and differential access to natural resources.procreation.3 He therefore shows that the allocation of tasks to the sexes in any society was not random but systematic so as to make the sexes compliment one another. 3 . differential strength and expertise. fetching water and firewood.6 Gelfand singles out preparation of meals as one of the women’s chief tasks and pointed out that no man ever cooked except on a journey where food could not be brought to him or he could not carry sufficient food with him. and the preparation of food. She notes that no man ever drew water for himself under normal village conditions as it was reckoned an essential duty of a wife or women. He points out that housekeeping included chores such as tidying up of the huts and the surroundings. Writing on the housekeeping chore of fetching water. Gelfand agrees with what Chondoka writes by pointing out that it was the man’s duty to dig a well where necessary but that only women took water from it. Von Oppen notes that women performed most housekeeping and all other tasks that went with it. Roberts shows that it was the task of the women. Gelfand notes that fetching of firewood was another female occupation among the Shona. He observes that girls were taught the skill of collecting firewood at tender ages.7 Every man expected his wife to cook for him and he had no right to interfere or even make suggestions in those matters. He emphasises that the need to prepare meals compelled women return to their homes from wherever they might have been.5 Reynolds’ work on the peoples of the Gwembe valley shows that the ever-recurrent housekeeping task of cooking and preparing of meals was done by women. the cultivation of the land. though with probable predominance of female labour. sowing. hunting and fishing. He however notes that even boys were also reminded that it was their task to collect firewood for the Dare. the labour of men was involved in some of the above chores on particular occasions and when there was a good reason. sowing. reaping and threshing were jointly performed by both sexes but that ground breaking was under the sphere of work of men. He however. weeding.8 However. The Ndebele high caste men concentrated their energies on hunting. reaping and threshing among the Shona were tasks jointly performed by both sexes. Colson observed that among the people of Gwembe. For instance. leaving many of the productive activities to women. sizes and shapes of firewood. weeding. is that men only helped with the clearing of the land and rarely. and harvesting. He further writes that the boys also had to carry logs that were too heavy for the women.11 Von Oppen’s observation concerning agriculture.10 Arrghit citing Ranger agrees that cultivating. Under food finding were included tasks such as agriculture. weeding. gathering.9 Many works on pre-colonial Central Africa show that food finding as a whole was conducted by both sexes. raiding and various martial pursuits.They were taught how to prepare a firewood bundle and how to select the best pieces. each the husband and the wife had 4 . Posselt notes that among the Shona. notes that it was different among the Ndebele who exhibited a more marked division of labour compared to the Shona. which no woman was permitted to prepare. This observation is also made by Roberts12 whose work in northern Zambia demonstrates that men rarely engaged in more than just clearing the land. hoeing while the women did the planting. men collected their own firewood for smelting iron. the village male meeting place. nature of the gathering process. Lastly.14 He notes that women gathered wild fruits. which provided food for relishes and standby in emergencies. or the distances to the collection point.17 The circumstances could be. herbs and vegetables. and fence gardens where it was done. men were required for t he collection of Mankolongwa which grew on thick bushes and whose collection was an arduous task. quantities of the materials being gathered. They explain that in famine season. famine.separate fields. They also helped with planting and cultivation of their own fields though many men did little in their wives’ fields. traps and digging. the collection of Mbula also required men’s participation since the distances to the collection points were often too great that the collection party would arrive after dark. built field shelters. women undertook gathering. insects.13 According to Beach. This is collaborated by Gelfand who also observes that gathering was done by small groups of women among the Mashona people. Similarly. gathering was a classic form of production for women on the Upper Zambezi ethnic groups just as hunting was for men.15 Von Oppen makes a similar observation that outside of agriculture. both sexes would collect fruits like the Muntamba since the quantities required were large. 5 .16 Rennie and Mubita agree that gathering was the province of the women but observe that this division of labour could change according to different circumstances. He explains that women were more closely tied to the village but that they also went to the forest for day long gathering trips which could even include catching of small birds and mammals using snares. She notes that men cleared fields. also agrees that all the pottery making was performed by the women with the exception that men made their own pipe bowls from clay.26 6 . Colson20 and Posselt21 write in agreement that hunting was a task that was performed by men. huntsman ship.24 Doke.22 Scholars’ written work on Central African history also demonstrates division of labour in the making of crafts. for woman procreation. Colson asserts that crafts were primarily subject to the sexual division of labour where work with wood and metals was assigned to men.18 He explains that this was a classic Lunda – Ndembu description of gender roles and that hunting was a man’s province among the Upper Zambezi ethnic groups. meaning that. cured and prepared it for pottery making. Iron smelting and working was conducted by small parties of four to six men working in at night in isolated camps.Von Oppen writes that niyala wubinga. They point out that even the firewood they used for smelting and working iron. Rennie and Mubita mention that iron smelting was a male activity from which females were ritually excluded. was collected by the men themselves. for man. He points out that the boy was given hunting weapons like a spear. namumbanda lusemu. baskets and mats. Other scholars like Roberts19. in his works on the Lamba. was assigned to women among the Gwembe Tonga. She explains that women mined the clay. Gelfand further explains that this division of labour started during childhood when the boys as young as eight or nine years were taught the art of hunting by their fathers or any senior male relatives. and the making of pots.23 Aguilar observes that women did the making of ceramics (pottery).25 Written work on pre-colonial Central Africa also exhibit the division of labour in the craft of iron smelting. the Mubanga and Mopane hardwood logs. bow and arrows while he was still young. like most male activities. The other reason he gives is that men were scantily dressed due to the heat from the furnaces during iron smelting.29 Rennie and Mubita agree with Colson’s assertion that there was division of labour in the craft of basket and mat making. Male specialists were carvers of wooden articles like bowls. required periodical.Chondoka adds on to explain that among the Tumbuka and Senga societies. Colson points out woodworking as another craft in which only men specialise. He further notes that the southern Lunda women specialise in mat making.31 Writing on different societies.27 Von Oppen also explains that iron working. Women used grass and rushes while the men used palm leaf and bamboo.30 Von Oppen also notes that it was the same among the Upper Zambezi ethnic groups. They were also the builders of canoes and the makers of drums. Both used reeds. men and boys made baskets and reed mats. Gelfand observes that among the Shona.33 7 . women were excluded from iron working sites for fear that they would leak the secrets to other tribes. the making of mats and baskets was carefully divided between the men and he women according to the materials that were used in the manufacturing process. stools and mortars.32 Doke makes a similar observation that among the Lamba people.28 Also writing on division of labour involving crafts. relatively short but intense input of labour. They write that basket making was a province of the women among the people of Itezhi-tezhi area. It also involved male absence from homes for sometimes-considerable periods. some scholars have different observations concerning the labour allocations in the craft making industries. The craft of bark cloth making also showed division of labour. He continues to mention that girls were shown how to make mud floors for a hut at as tender ages as six years. Women cut the grass for thatching but it was the men that carried it to the building site. Gelfand mentions bark cloth making was a task for men. It usually took a party of men who went together to sleep (camp) in the bush at a place where there was plenty of suitable Lwenshi trees.38 However.37 Gelfand also shows that women performed the task of flooring the huts.35 Reynolds notes that house building was a craft that normally required the joint efforts of both the husband and the wife or all the men and the women of the homestead.40 In conclusion. though the assistance of work parties drawn from the whole village or from the neighbourhood was necessary for certain tasks.39 Von Oppen also observes that men among the Upper Zambezi ethnic groups built the granaries. Posselt stresses that the building of stores for agricultural produce was done one by men. This he points out was probably because of the quantities involved. It has been shown in the paper that various scholars demonstrate that people in pre-colonial Africa performed various tasks according to their sex. Men cut and carried the poles for hut construction. it can be said that the paper has brought out what scholars have written on various groups with the aim of assessing the extent to which one may argue that the historiography of Central Africa demonstrates sexual division of labour.34 Doke explains that the bark cloth making and the preparation was no small undertaking.36 Rennie and Mubita also observe that house building was performed by both sexes. It has to be mentioned however that 8 . some scholars are silent on sexual division of labour in their work. ENDNOTES 9 . I can therefore argue to a considerable extent that the historiography of Central Africa demonstrates division of labour between men and women in the pre-colonial period. 32. Thesis. Dow. (Hamburg: LIT Verlag. (Manchester: Manchester University Press. p.). D.17. p. Chondoka. p. 1995). ‘Labour Supplies in Historical Perspective: A Study of the Proletarianisation of the African Peaantry’ in C. (London: Frank Cass and Company. Labour and Diet in Northern Rhodesia .37. Posselt. Gelfand.135. Reynolds. p. Development Studies Revisited: Twenty Five Years of the Journal of Development Studies. p. 1967) p. (London: Ethnographica. G. The Roots ofRural Poverty in Central Africa.h. Von Oppen.102. Burton. Diet and Tradition in an African Culture.37. (Manchester: Manchester university Press. (Edinburgh: E & S Livingstone. Labour Migration and Rural Transformation in Chama District. M. Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust. Gelfand.1 M. P. B. 1989).34. 1977). Roberts. E. Arrghit. Fact and Fiction: A Short Account of th e Natives of Southern Rhodesia. Diet and Tradition in an African Culture. Land. p. Gelfand. Rennie and A. 1992. ‘Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi’ in R. 1942). p. Rennie and Mubita.D. The Social Organisation of the Gwembe Tonga. p. Sexual Division of Labour in African Agriculture. M. Fitzgerald. F. W. Colson. Labour and Diet in Northern Rhodesia. Von Oppen. (Bulawayo: The Rhodesia Printing Press. K.135. Derricourt. Man on the Kafue: The Archaeology and History of the Itezhi-tezhi Area of Zambia.131. Cooper and E. p.103 M. Beach.26. (American Anthropological Association) @ http: eclectic. p.edu Y. D. Gelfand.29. p. p. 1985). University of Toronto.uci. K. T. p. Land. p. ‘The Shona Economy: Branches of Production’ in R.247.91. ‘Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi’. A. Diet and Tradition in an African Culture. Roberts. Von Oppen. p. Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust. Parsons (eds. (Berkeley: University of Califonia. (Hamburg: LIT Verlag. Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust. 1994). Diet and Tradition in an African Culture.40. White and M. Palmer and N. Mubita. V. A. NorthEastern Zambia1890-1964. p.ss. The Material Culture of the Gwembe Valley.130. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 .105. A. 1968). 1971). 19 Roberts. p.49. p. L. Colson. Gelfand. Doke. 2007). Harrap and Company Ltd. p. p. p. p. 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 . ‘Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi’. p. Diet and Tradition in an African Culture.102. Gelfand. Diet and Tradition in an African Culture. Rennie and Mubita. The Tumbuka and Senga in Chama district.35. p. Aguilar. 1931). The Material Culture of the Gwembe Valley. p.139.46.120. Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust.45. Chondoka.40. Reynolds. Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust.66. The Social Organisation of the Gwembe Tonga. The Lambas of Northern Rhodesia. p.34. p. Gelfand.131. Labour and Diet in Northern Rhodesia. vol. Gelfand. E. Y. Gluckman (ed). African Arts.136. C. p. Land. Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust. The Social Organisation of the Gwembe Tonga. The Lambas of Northern Rhodesia. Doke.134. 1470-1900. p102.117. p. p. Doke.37. p. Diet and Tradition in an African Culture. 1959). ‘Metaphors.348. p.49.35. p. ‘Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi’. Myths and Making Pots: Chewa Clay Arts’.37. Diet and Tradition in an African Culture. B. Von Oppen. Posselt.29.118. A. p. (London: George G. Rennie and Mubita. p. Colson and M. Von Oppen. Von Oppen. 2007. Fact and Fiction: A Short Account of the Natives of Southern Rhodesia. Seven Tribes of Central British Africa. Colson. Posselt. (Lusaka: Academic Press. Rennie and Mubita. ‘Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi’.103. p. (Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. The Lambas of Northern Rhodesia: A Study of Their Customs and Beliefs. Fact and Fiction: A Short Account of th e Natives of Southern Rhodesia. BIBLIOGRAPHY Aguilar. ‘Metaphors. London: Frank Cass and Company.). 1977. Arrghit. Palmer and N. Cooper and E. V. K. 1989. Beach. G. ‘The Shona Economy: Branches of Production’ in R. Myths and Making Pots: Chewa Clay Arts’. Fitzgerald. .40. Laurel Birch. African Arts. Parsons (eds. Development Studies Revisited: Twenty Five Years of the Journal of Development Studies. The Roots ofRural Poverty in Central Africa. Berkeley: University of Califonia. ‘Labour Supplies in Historical Perspective: A Study of the Proletarianisation of the African Peaantry’ in C. vol. 2007. 1995. Thesis.ss.edu Chondoka. University of Toronto. White. 1994. Derricourt. Land. Hamburg: LIT Verlag. P. Roberts. The Lambas of Northern Rhodesia: A Study of Their Customs and Beliefs. L. American Anthropological Association @ http:eclectic. Labour and Diet in Northern Rhodesia.. Keith and Austin Mubita. The Social Organisation of the Gwembe Tonga. Yezenge. Fact and Fiction: A Short Account of th e Natives of Southern Rhodesia. London: Ethnographica. NorthEastern Zambia1890-1964. 2007. Reynolds. ‘Sexual Division of Labour in African Agriculture’. 1470-1900. Chondoka. Harrap and Company. The Material Culture of the Gwembe Valley. Rennie. Elizabeth. 1931. 1967. Terms of Trade and Terms of Trust:The History and Contexts of Pre-colonial Market Production Around the Upper Zambezi and Kasai.h. Seven Tribes of Central British Africa. Man on the Kafue: The Archaeology and History of the Itezhi-tezhi Area of Zambia. D. 1959. and Dow. 1992. Lusaka: Academic Press. 1985 . Labour Migration and Rural Transformation in Chama District. 1971. ‘Pre-colonial Economy and Society Around Itezhi-tezhi’ in R.T. Oppen. Manchester: Manchester university Press. 1942. Barrie. Yezenge. Doke. Michael. Elizabeth and Max Gluckman (ed). Manchester: Manchester University Press. Colson. M. Achim Von. The Tumbuka and Senga in Chama district. Audrey. 1968.Burton. Colson. F. Clement.D. Edinburgh: E & S Livingstone.W. Posselt. . Gelfand. Hamburg: LIT Verlag. London: George G. M.uci. Diet and Tradition in an African Culture. Bulawayo: The Rhodesia Printing Press. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
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