The 'Good Wife': Struggles over Land and Labour in the Kenyan Horticultural Sector

Dolan, Catherine

Abstract

This paper examines how the contracting of French beans has engendered conflict over rights, obligations and resources in Meru District, Kenya. In response to pressure for agricultural diversification and the expanding European market for "gourmet" vegetables, horticulture, the historical domain of women, has been rapidly intensified, commoditized and in many cases, appropriated by men. Women have responded to the erosion of their rights in ways that appear paradoxical -- some undergoing Christian conversion while others poison their husbands -- practices that simultaneously affirm and contest the prevailing norms of the "good wife". In Meru, gender relations are key to the negotiation of household resources and the potential for capital accumulation in the export horticultural sector.

Citation

Dolan, C. (2001). The 'Good Wife': Struggles over Land and Labour in the Kenyan Horticultural Sector. The Journal of Development Studies, 37(3), 39-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380412331321961

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2001
• Deposit Date: Jan 28, 2015
• Print ISSN: 0022-0388
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-9140
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 37
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 39-70
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380412331321961