Changing the meaning of motherhood : gender, family, and politics in Côte d'Ivoire, 1893-1983
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Queen mothers and women warriors figure prominently in African tradition. In modern African political systems, however, women's influence often appears marginal. This dissertation examines this apparent gulf between "tradition" and "modernity" by tracing the history of changing meanings of motherhood in Côte d'Ivoire in the twentieth century. Motherhood has long been the source of moral and political authority for women in African societies. Beyond connotations of reproduction and caregiving, African motherhood is a social institution that encapsulates women's political, economic, and ritual responsibilities in their communities. In excavating the relationship between motherhood and politics, this study demonstrates how maternal authority emerged as both a site of female power and a locus of political contestation in Côte d'Ivoire. Over the course of the twentieth century, motherhood empowered women to make potent political claims, most notably in resistance to colonial rule. But as colonial officials, missionaries, and Ivoirian leaders vied for power against a backdrop of turbulent political change, meanings of motherhood began to shift. From public mothers, to domestic housewives, to citizen-mothers, the ideal Ivoirienne took on new forms as women and men debated whether to harness or suppress women's authority. As women sought recourse in public motherhood, those opposed to or threatened by their action leveraged changing meanings of motherhood in order to coopt their militancy. Through careful readings of colonial archives, interviews, and news media, this dissertation follows women as they negotiated and resisted these conflicting imperatives.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2022; ©2022 |
| Publication date | 2022; 2022 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Jacob, Elizabeth Claire |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Cabrita, Joel, 1980- |
| Degree supervisor | Roberts, Richard L, 1949- |
| Thesis advisor | Cabrita, Joel, 1980- |
| Thesis advisor | Roberts, Richard L, 1949- |
| Thesis advisor | Daughton, J. P. (James Patrick) |
| Degree committee member | Daughton, J. P. (James Patrick) |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of History |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Elizabeth Jacob. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of History. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2022. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/vr166fr9048 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2022 by Elizabeth Claire Jacob
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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