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Women, Work and Collective Labour Action in Africa

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Labour and Unions in Asia and Africa

Part of the book series: Macmillan International Political Economy Series ((IPES))

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Abstract

Much has been written about labour and trade unions in Africa, but rarely from the point of view of gender. Yet women in Africa have been drawn into waged labour much less than men. The migrant labour system has depended on unpaid female labour in the rural areas, while peasant producers here benefited from unwaged female labour on family farms. Where women have worked for wages, they have for the most part performed the least skilled, most insecure jobs. Many work without union protection, and when they belong to a union, rarely take a lead in union affairs.

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© 1988 Roger Southall

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Parpart, J.L. (1988). Women, Work and Collective Labour Action in Africa. In: Southall, R. (eds) Labour and Unions in Asia and Africa. Macmillan International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18790-4_9

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