Termine

Abstract

The mothering work of Zanzibari women – which became the focus of the master thesis I based on six months of fieldwork in the archipelago in 2018/19 – not only takes place against the backdrop of economic and political uncertainty but also in light of women’s considerations about the (un)reliability and trustworthiness of the fathers of their children. An often extremely unfavorable image of male irresponsibility led women to adapt different strategies of navigation that I analyzed specifically in view of political uncertainty and conflict in the islands. At the same time, questions about fatherhood, fathering, and male gender identity began suggesting themselves to me stronger and stronger the more I wrote about the significance of motherhood and mothering to women. Given that in many studies on gender, the investigation of male perspectives as gendered, not as ‘the norm’ is often bypassed, the expansion of my previous work through exploring men’s attitudes and practices within the scope of fatherhood and fathering, while at the same time not slipping into an isolationist mode of ‘either-or’, is one of the main objectives of my planned PhD-project. My presentation will thus comprise both empirical examples and analysis from my work in Zanzibar, as well as the pathways following from its gaps and biases that lead towards my future work.

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