Contesting Illegality: Women in the Informal Copper Business

Mususa, Patience

doi:10.1057/9780230115590_7

Cited by 28 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Small-scale and illegal mining activity has contributed much to informal livelihoods of not only Copperbelt residents and those of the new mining areas of North Western Province, but also to those members of the Zambian public who were willing to migrate to those areas to exploit this opportunity (Mususa 2010b). On the 'old Copperbelt', women and children work on the copper-mine dumps, trespassing on the larger mine company's property to retrieve flux stone, a by-product of copper processing, which is then sold as building aggregate in the manufacture of concrete blocks.…”

Section: P Mususamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The populations of these camps have fluctuated since 2004 according to world copper prices. The majority of these camps have no basic services due to their rural location, but nonetheless, socially, the camps have an urban character that contrasts with the surrounding countryside (Mususa 2010b). They could also be described as 'rurban slums', as they accommodate a densely concentrated migrant population who are squatting on rural customary land.…”

Section: P Mususamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mining, welfare and urbanisation: the wavering urban character of Zambia's Copperbelt

Mususa

2012

Journal of Contemporary African Studies

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: P Mususamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: P Mususamentioning

confidence: 99%

Mining, welfare and urbanisation: the wavering urban character of Zambia's Copperbelt

Mususa

2012

Journal of Contemporary African Studies

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Since the 1980s, more and more women have entered the labour market and developed incomegenerating activities to contribute to household budgets. This growing economic participation of women has led to the gradual questioning of the male breadwinner model promoted by colonial mining companies (Evans 2014(Evans , 2015b(Evans , 2016Mususa 2010). Today, given the rising cost of living, it has become difficult to live on a single salary in the cities of the Copperbelt.…”

Section: Gender At Homementioning

confidence: 99%

Undermining gender: women mineworkers at the rock face in a Zambian underground mine

Musonda

2020

Anthropology Southern Africa

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article examines how women's increased employment in the stereotypically masculine domain of large-scale underground mining affect gender stereotypes and cultural expectations in the Zambian Copperbelt. Based on three years of ethnographic research under and above the ground, it responds to three key questions: How are women working in mining coping with their male colleagues and the underground environment? How do women miners interact with their male partners at home? What does it tell us about broader gender dynamics in the Zambian mining sector? It also shows that women's increased access to resources and valorised positions in mining has contributed to changing gender inequalities not only in mining but also in miners' families. Men are no longer ashamed of having working wives as they were in the period from the 1950s to the 1970s. For these families, economic security is a more important determinant of a man's or a woman's position than gender difference. Este artigo examina como o aumento do emprego de mulheres no domínio estereotipicamente masculino da mineração subterrânea em larga escala afeta os estereótipos de gênero e as expectativas culturais no cinturão do cobre zambiano. Com base em três anos de pesquisa etnográfica abaixo e acima do solo, o artigo responde a três perguntas principais: Como as mulheres que trabalham na mineração estão lidando com seus colegas homens e o ambiente subterrâneo? Como as mulheres mineiras interagem com seus parceiros homens em casa? O que isso nos diz sobre a dinâmica de gênero mais ampla no setor de mineração da Zâmbia? Também mostra que o aumento do acesso das mulheres a recursos e posições valorizadas na mineração tem contribuído para alterar desigualdades de gênero, não apenas na mineração, mas também nas famílias dos mineiros. Os homens não sentem mais vergonha de ter esposas que trabalham fora como se sentiam entre as décadas de 1950 e 1970. Para essas famílias, a segurança econômica é um determinante da posição de homens/mulheres mais importante do que a diferença de gênero.

show abstract

“…From the 1970s onwards, Zambian workers also faced a steady decline in their living conditions; in these circumstances, most women engaged in informal activities to earn their own money and to top up what their husband was giving to them. Since most workers were made redundant in the 1990s, the contribution that women make to the household income through these informal activities has become of crucial importance (Musasa , ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Women Support the Patriarchal Family: The Dynamics of Marriage in a Gécamines Mining Camp (Katanga Province, DR Congo)

Rubbers¹

2014

J Historical Sociology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Based on ethnographic research among the ex-Gécamines workers of Panda (Likasi, DR Congo), this article studies the dynamics of the spousal relationship in a post-industrial context that has been long characterized by paternalism. The results of this research suggest that, though men and women living in this mining community talk about their spousal relationships by invoking the ideal of Christian marriage promoted during the colonial period, in practice such relationships faced important changes following Congolese independence in 1960. The nationalization and subsequent dramatic decline of Gécamines caused changes which directly affected three central dimensions of the colonial family model, namely monogamy, the ideal of domesticity, and male authority. If men and women continue to reference this model, it is because, in times of growing poverty, it allows spouses to remind one another of their respective duties as docile housewives and responsible husbands, and to command respect as virtuous Christian families in the local community.

show abstract

Contesting Illegality: Women in the Informal Copper Business

Cited by 28 publications

References 5 publications

Mining, welfare and urbanisation: the wavering urban character of Zambia's Copperbelt

Mining, welfare and urbanisation: the wavering urban character of Zambia's Copperbelt

Undermining gender: women mineworkers at the rock face in a Zambian underground mine

When Women Support the Patriarchal Family: The Dynamics of Marriage in a Gécamines Mining Camp (Katanga Province, DR Congo)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About