ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents the experience of women in Umtata, South Africa. Rather than the larger cities of Johannesburg or Pretoria, Umtata, a small city in the Transkeian region, was a focal point for women leaving the rural areas. It analyzes Kikuyu women's movement into Nairobi, where many worked as street and market traders and confronted attempts by the colonial government to control them and their work. The book discusses Hausa women in Kaduna, Nigeria, within the context of a family history. It describes the way in which conjugal conflict was presented in urban courts in Zambia, where judges tried to accommodate both established expectations about marriage and the modern reality of poverty-stricken urban living. The book addresses the widespread continuation of polygyny in urban areas. It discusses how women struggle continually to arrange for decent housing.
