This book brings shows the ways in which African women participated in economic, social and political spaces in Atlantic coast societies. the contributors examine the role of petty traders and enslaved women in communities from Sierra Leone to Benguela. They analyse how women in Africa used the opportunities offered by relationships with European men, Christianity and Atlantic commerce to negotiate their social and economic positions: consider the limitations which early colonialism sought to impose on women : the factors which fostered or restricted women's mobility: and women's economic power and its curtailment.
Exploring three key domains, this book presents different perspectives from gender-focused economics and social research. It covers marriage and women's position within the household: the options available to women outside of marriage and in the context of their community: and overarching discriminatory laws and cultural norms.