Domesticity and piety in colonial Lesotho

The private politics of Basotho women s pious associations

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4803979
AutoresM Epprecht (0000-0003-3497-9395, Dalhousie University, autor de correspondencia)
Año1993
Volumen19
Número2
Páginas202-224
Fecha de publicación1993-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03057079308708357
OpenAlexW2053862442
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas11

African women's Christian pious associations in southern Africa, or manyanos, have tended to be regarded by both European observers and elite African men as a 'bizarre' phenomenon. Their apparently irrational and excessive piety and legalism, their sometimes woolly theology, and their often dogged resistance to 'modern' ideas or leadership, were also commonly denounced by male church leaders. Yet they remain the most visible and widespread of all women's voluntary associations in the region, often with a reputation among African communities for considerable, even dangerous powers. This article examines in historical perspective the kopanos (manyanos) of Lesotho, a predominantly rural area which suffered from inordinately high male absenteeism until very recently. It seeks to understand the material as well as the social or spiritual elements of domesticity and piety as understood by Basotho women themselves

China · Colonialism · Elite · Piety · Political science · Politics · Sociology · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Gender Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law · South African History and Culture