Overview

By the second decade of the twentieth century in Abeokuta, a Yoruba town in southwestern Nigeria, most dyers were producing adire cloth, which featured a variety of patterns created by resist dyeing with indigo onto a primarily European manufactured cloth. The author highlights the dynamic way in which these women engaged with the colonial economy, taking full advantage of its infrastructure and credit, as well as the new technologies and the availability of imported European cloth. Reveals how the women dyers constantly adapted to changes in the market, technology, political and economic conditions, consumer tastes and competition from other imported goods so that the industry not only survived but thrived as the town of Abeokuta was increasingly incorporated into the international economy. North America: Heinemann

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9780852556504

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This useful book opens important windows into the history of gender, local production and colonialism in West Africa. Byfield focuses on the history of female indigo - or adire - dyers in Abeokuta to explore the relationship between these dyers and structures of colonialism. ... Byfield shows how one local industry was tied to other broader economic transformations brought by colonial rule. Contrary to the vast literature on 'de-industrialization', Byfield convincingly argues that, in the case of the indigo dyeing industry at least, integration into a global economy actually promoted development rather than wiping out local craft producers. ...This is thoughtful and provocative history. Byfield has provided an important and welcome contribution to the social history of colonialism and gender in Nigeria that is creatively and exhaustively researched. Byfield's real contribution is to locate and trace the history of female dyers within the broader events and changes ushered in by colonial rule. ...Hopefully, Byfield's work will stimulate further studies of the gendered dynamics of colonialism and the dynamics of regional and local economies within Africa during the colonial period. - Sean Stilwell in JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY

This useful book opens important windows into the history of gender, local production and colonialism in West Africa. Byfield focuses on the history of female indigo - or adire - dyers in Abeokuta to explore the relationship between these dyers and structures of colonialism. ... Byfield shows how one local industry was tied to other broader economic transformations brought by colonial rule. Contrary to the vast literature on 'de-industrialization', Byfield convincingly argues that, in the case of the indigo dyeing industry at least, integration into a global economy actually promoted development rather than wiping out local craft producers. ...This is thoughtful and provocative history. Byfield has provided an important and welcome contribution to the social history of colonialism and gender in Nigeria that is creatively and exhaustively researched. Byfield's real contribution is to locate and trace the history of female dyers within the broader events and changes ushered in by colonial rule. ...Hopefully, Byfield's work will stimulate further studies of the gendered dynamics of colonialism and the dynamics of regional and local economies within Africa during the colonial period. - Sean Stilwell in * JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY *

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