ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a discussion of the ongoing creation of custom and of the court as a resource that urban women use in struggles over poverty, work, autonomy, and, above all, identity in postcolonial Lusaka. It describes how the population of Mtendere reacted to ongoing socioeconomic changes and characterizes the dominant gender relations that structure women's and men's opportunities on unequal terms. The chapter follows some residents to the Local Court, summarizing court procedures and presenting cases that fit the two categories of conjugal problems and personal insult/defamation. It outlines a body of shared ideas from these two categories of cases. The chapter concerns the powers of custom and court to redefine female and male against a backdrop of socioeconomic change. There were several broad categories of disputes among the wide range of matters Mtendere residents took to their Local Court after other mediation efforts had proved futile.
