Prostitution or partnership? Wifestyles in Tanzanian artisanal gold-mining settlements

Bryceson, D.F., Jønsson, J.B. and Verbrugge, H. (2013) Prostitution or partnership? Wifestyles in Tanzanian artisanal gold-mining settlements. Journal of Modern African Studies, 51(1), pp. 33-56. (doi: 10.1017/S0022278X12000547)

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Abstract

Tanzania, along with several other African countries, is experiencing a national mining boom, which has prompted hundreds of thousands of men and women to migrate to mineral-rich locations. At these sites, relationships between the sexes defy the sexual norms of the surrounding countryside to embrace new relational amalgams of polygamy, monogamy and promiscuity. This article challenges the assumption that female prostitution is widespread. Using interview data with women migrants, we delineate six ‘wifestyles’, namely sexual-cum-conjugal relationships between men and women that vary in their degree of sexual and material commitment. In contrast to bridewealth payments, which involved elders formalising marriages through negotiations over reproductive access to women, sexual negotiations and relations in mining settlements involve men and women making liaisons and co-habitation arrangements directly between each other without third-party intervention. Economic interdependence may evolve thereafter with the possibility of women, as well as men, offering material support to their sex partners.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Bryceson, Dr Deborah
Authors: Bryceson, D.F., Jønsson, J.B., and Verbrugge, H.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
Journal Name:Journal of Modern African Studies
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
ISSN:0022-278X
ISSN (Online):1469-7777
Published Online:25 February 2013
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2013 Cambridge University Press
First Published:First published in Journal of Modern African Studies 51(1):33-56
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
528551Urban Growth and Poverty in Mining AfricaDeborah BrycesonEconomic & Social Research Council (ESRC)ES/H033521/1SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHICAL & EARTH SCIENCES