Paper short abstract:

In Muslim Kankan (Guinea) many households depend partly or entirely on female income activities. This stands in harsh contrast to propagated gender roles. This paper analyses the subsequent impact on women's negotiating power in polygamous households.

Paper long abstract:

In urban Muslim Kankan, Guinea's second largest city, the man as head of house is - according to popular perception - supposed to be the breadwinner of the family. Women's domain on the other hand is at home where they are in charge of their children and all household activities. However, in a place where basic infrastructure is not available for most of the population and secured employment is rare, daily realities show a different picture: Nowadays many households depend partly or entirely on female income activities.

This stands in contrast to public opinion of gender division according to religious and "customary" norms. Officially, the image of the man who is in charge of the family and who takes all decisions is upheld. Nevertheless, more and more men - aware of economic hardship - encourage their wife/wives or girlfriend(s) to launch commercial activities or to learn a proper profession.

From a social anthropological perspective this paper analyses the resulting impact on gender roles and intra-household dynamics. In Kankan, the changes on the economic level did not automatically lead to an increase of women's bargaining-power vis-à-vis their husbands. Gender dynamics within a household depend more on the educational and family background, the age of marriage and the number of a man's wives than on who the breadwinner of the family is. However, increased economic independence is seen by women as a way to diminish their matrimonial problems. This may improve their position in a competing polygamous environment.

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