ABSTRACT
This chapter explores urbanization and social change in twentieth-century northern Nigeria through the lens of the experiences and perceptions of three Muslim Hausa women, which are presented in the form of life histories. Multiple life histories have been collected within single studies to examine women in different castes, systems of gender stratification, and the differential effects of changing economic conditions on women: Hajiya Asabe, her daughter Hajiya Mero, and Hajiya Mero's daughter Binta. Three questions underlie the presentation and discussion of the narratives. How did Hausa women experience and perceive life in Kaduna from 1925 to 1985? what degree, if any, did Hausa women influence the content and course of change in their community and in the city as a whole during this period? What can be learned about urbanization in Africa in this century and about the development of Kaduna itself by focusing on the experiences and perceptions of women whose lives were intertwined with these processes?.
