ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the Petroleum Wives Club (PWC) of Port-Gentil, in particular the experiences of the women who formed its membership and the city whose physical and social space they inhabited, based on 17 months of research in Gabon. It examines Gabonese national identities and understandings of the statecitizen relationship. Port-Gentil can be a very different city to different individuals, depending on the cluster of social categories with which a person identifies. The chapter explores associational groups founded by and for foreigners in Port-Gentil. The author identifies Valerie as someones wife because that is how she introduced herself that day. In Port-Gentil, Western wives were most often identified first and foremost within their community as accompanying spouses to their husbands. The chapter explains that a number of African associational groups in Port-Gentil limit their membership to practitioners of particular professions or crafts. Indeed, most associational groups permit membership based on the personal, legal or professional attributes of the prospective members.
