Women in pre-colonial Africa: West Africa

Abstract

Women in pre-colonial West Africa were not a homogenous group that lived static lives relegated to the domestic sphere. Women contested, negotiated, complemented, and transformed their societies through their diverse roles in the political, social, religious, and economic realities of pre-colonial life in West Africa. This chapter presents this dynamic history, foregrounding the dynamics of society and social life within which women from Asante to Mali to Zazzau participated in public life, social and economic production and reproduction, and spiritual life. In sum, pre-colonial West African societies valued women, and while the entry of colonial states and religions was definitive in altering this, further research is required to better understand how women created space for themselves within both broad historical eras.