Women, Gender and Colonialism: Rethinking the History of the British Cape Colony and its Frontier Zones, c. 1806–70

Abstract

That many studies in African and imperial history neglect women and gender is a commonplace. Using a case-study – the British Cape Colony and its frontier zones – this article attempts to demonstrate some consequences of this neglect. It argues, firstly, that it generates empirical inaccuracies as a result of the insignificance accorded to gender differentiation and to women themselves. Secondly, representations of women as unimportant, and men as ungendered, result in flawed analysis of both men and the colonial encounter. This view is argued in detail for two events: an 1825 slave rebellion and an 1856–7 millenarian movement. The article concludes that if gender and half the adult populace are marginalized in this way, the price is frequently interpretations which have limited purchase on the past.

Where Does Sadness Come From? Politics, Potentiality and a Possible Humanities

“…More recently she has been cast as a victim of sexual abuse by Helen Bradford who has questioned the marginalization of a figure so central to a 19th-century movement. Bradford's argument, which in the main targets androcentric tendencies in South African historiography, insists on restoring the agency of women who responded to the instability caused by colonial intrusion and the steady erosion of patriarchal power in a pre-colonial state (Bradford, 1996). Yet in all the efforts at historicizing the cattle-killing event there has been no inquiry into why nationalism invests so much effort in this convoluted plot, especially as a foundational fiction in its 20th-century claims.…”

“…Her name was invoked to warn against the politics of collaboration with the apartheid state. More recently Nongqawuse has resurfaced in gendered readings of androcentric tendencies in 19th-century historiography (Bradford, 1996). In the public sphere there have been warnings about the Nongqawuse syndrome, cautioning against the support for false prophets, in a debate involving Achille Mbembe, Moeletsi Mbeki and Xolela Mangcu about post-apartheid political choices (Mbembe, 2006).…”

‘Happy is the bride the rain falls on’:1 climate, health and ‘the woman question’ in nineteenth‐century missionary documentation

“…This negative stereotyping not only influenced how the LMS perceived health risks for women in their overseas mission fields, but also the way in which female applicants for missionary service overseas imagined and anticipated the geographical pathologies of different missionary destinations. Indeed, though largely neglected in geographical imperial discourses (Bradford 1996), the perceptions provided by women who were considering missionary work overseas might have been significant in the articulation of acclimatization concerns. For the most part, medical opinion drawn from reports on the suitability of female applicants to the LMS appears to have reinforced and consolidated contemporary views of women's supposed heightened vulnerability overseas.…”

‘Sharing my bed with the enemy’: Wives and violent husbands in post-colonial Swaziland

“…However, it is now appreciated by most historians writing on the region that it is important to integrate the experiences of women in historical narratives and analysis (Dorgut 2000). Pioneering work by Belinda Bozzoli and H. Bradford (Bozzoli 1983;Bradford 1996) has opened new avenues for discourse. However, there is still regional imbalance in the coverage of the subject as countries such as South Africa have benefited from a number of excellent studies on domestic violence (Campbell 1992;Cock 2001) while in others very little research has been done.…”