Women in Colonial East Africa

Abstract

This chapter provides a contextual analysis of the role and place of women in colonial East Africa. Several factors including land, labor, agriculture, education, trade, politics, nationalism, and struggle for liberation are deemed relevant in explaining power dynamics among men and women in this historical period. Through a theoretical analysis of existing literature, the chapter explores the various nuances that define women’s social, economic, political, and spiritual contexts in the colonial era. The chapter succeeds in showing that women in the pre-colonial era, in many communities within East Africa, had a voice and were respected in their own rights, although in some communities, male dominance was evident. Regardless, the advent of colonialism and European approach to gender relations influenced the status quo for societies in East Africa and elsewhere on the continent. The end of the colonial era did not change the gender relations that the colonial masters had entrenched in the economic, political, and social lives of Africans. Women found themselves disadvantaged. For this reason, they continue to struggle for liberation and expanded rights.