First published in 1984, Women and Property studies the idea of wealth and property in relation to women in diverse countries. It attempts a definition of the term 'property' itself and goes on to look at the relationships and rights associated with these various kinds of property. The authors assess the effects of wider economic forces and State intervention, indicating the changing contexts in which these systems are set today. In some cases, life-cycle markers such as marriage, divorce and widowhood are critical, and in many cases, it is the organisation of the household, residential patterns and kinship rights which are seen to structure the relationships of women, men and property. Ideological constructs regarding female sexuality, and also those in which women and children may be conceptualised as 'objects' are considered in detail. Surprisingly, little attention has been paid to the significance of property as a critical factor affecting the position of women in society, and the original papers presented here provide new dimensions for a neglected area of feminist debate. This book will be of interest to students of sociology, political science, law and gender studies.
Preface 1. Introduction: Property, Power and Gender Relations Renée Hirschon 2. Cognatic Descent, Islamic Law and Women’s Property on the East African Coast Patricia Caplan 3. The Exchange of Women and Property: Marriage in Post-Revolutionary China Elisabeth Croll 4. Dowry in North India: Its Consequences for Women Ursula Sharma 5. Female Power and the Inequality of Wealth and Motherhood in North-western Portugal João de Pina-Cabral 6. The Legal and Social Transformation of Rural Women in Aegean Turkey June Starr 7. Divorce and the Disadvantaged: African Women in Urban South Africa Sandra Burman 8. ‘Fear Women’: Property and Modes of Production in Urban Ghana Sallie Westwood 9. Subject or Object? Women and the Circulation of Valuables in Highlands New Guinea Marilyn Strathern 10. Men and Women, Kinship and Property: Some General Issues Ann Whitehead Bibliography Contributors Index
Biography
Renee Hirschon
