Daughters of the clay, women of the farm: women, agricultural economic development, and ceramic production in Bungoma District, Western Province, Kenya
View/ Open
Date
1994-01Author
Nangendo, Stevie M
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This dissertation is an ethnographic study of women, agriculture and ceramic
production among Babukusu, a subnation ofthe larger Abaluyia cultural group living in
Bungoma District, Western Kenya. The ethnographic data are analyzed in the context of
the theories of delocalization and marginalization. The dissertation traces developments
among Babukusu from the colonial period in the nineteenth century up until the present
time. It is argued that much of the Bukusu political, economic, sociocultural and
ideological life have been transformed by the process of delocalization. This has been
clearly seen in the introduction of cash crops, particularly sugarcane, which has
tremendously affected land values, distribution of wealth, quality of education and the
marginalization of women. Pottery manufacture --- by both women and men ---among
Babukusu has remained largely at the individual, household level. It has been
transformed into an enterprise for earning small amounts of cash in the context of
substantial rural poverty. The dissertation also contrasts the individual-centered pottery
production found among Babukusu with the more advantageous cooperative
organizations developed among the potters of Murang'a District of the Central Province
of Kenya.
Citation
Degree of Doctor of PhilosophyPublisher
University of Nairobi Department of Anthropology
Description
Submitted to the Faculty of Bryn Mawr College)
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy