Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses the structuring of economic activity among people speaking North Nyanzan languages and examines the nature of the relationship between biological and social reproduction in the region. It argues that the institution of motherhood was central to economic activity, especially to the organization of food production.

The divide most often noted in the literature is between pastoralism, hunting and fishing on the one hand perceived as having been the preserve of men and agriculture on the other hand seen as woman’s work. However, for Baganda, Basoga and Bagwere women and men, as well as for their North Nyanza speaking ancestors, the division of labour was more complicated than this clean distinction depicts. This in turn affected who conducted other types of production and how the proceeds were divided in households and beyond. By tracing some of the key changes in economic activity from the tenth to the nineteenth centuries, this paper sheds light on the role of gender and life stage in its organization. Furthermore, the paper highlights how the interplay between economic life, gender and life stage affected political complexity and the emergence of polities in Buganda, Busoga and Bugwere.

This paper is based on archival- and field-work in central and Eastern Uganda, 2004-05, including Makerere University, the Church of Uganda archives, and local Catholic church archives in Pallisa and Jinja; archival and library work in the Mill Hill Father’s archives in London and the Church Missionary Society in Birmingham; archival work at the White Fathers’ Archives in Rome; and published sources.