The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Women's History

The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Women's History is the first reference work of its kind: a comprehensive resource that documents the centrality of women--their lives, experiences, accomplishments and perspectives--to the history of Africa.Over 125 entries explore African women's lives across states, regions, and time periods, along with their contributions to fields such as politics, law, science, arts and literature, and popular culture.The volumes also include a handful of biographical articles that place major figures within their specific historical context. African women, of course, are hardly a homogenous group.As this project reveals, their lifeways, their opportunities and obstacles, differ, sometimes dramatically, by social class, cultural norms, religious background, ethnic heritage, political structures, sexual preferences, and more.Each was born into a time, place, and society that shaped (but did not determine) what it meant to be a "woman" (and of course, a "man").Whil