gating ways in which gendered effects of current changes on the continent are acted upon by men and women, co-producing future developments. In spite of overwhelming obstacles, such as widespread poverty and soaring HIV/AIDS infection rates, examples are given of women’s agency in ways which sometimes reproduce and at other times challenge patriarchal structures.
With this introduction, by discussing theoretical issues of importance for each of these sections, I hope to provide a broader context in which to read and appreciate the individual contributions. Almost all of the chapters were first presented at the conference/workshop: “Contexts of Gender in Africa”organized in Uppsala in February 2002 by the Nordic Africa Institute’s Sexuality, Gender and Society in Africa research programme.