Shaping our Struggles Nigerian Women in History, Culture and Social Change provides a critical reconsideration of women’s position in Nigeria by exploring their historical, developmental, and socio-cultural experiences across Nigeria’s cultures. It seeks to draw new attention to still neglected aspects of women’s experiences, while suggesting that a reappraisal of women’s roles as historical actors helps to facilitate a more encompassing rethinking of their place in society and their still underestimated contribution to societal development. Their changing roles, their marginalization at different historical times, and most importantly, their resilience and resistance to the classification of women as the lower class in society is reflected in the diverse and reflective essays presented in this volume.

In analyzing a range of materials that testifies to the wide spectrum of women’s experiences in Nigeria, the essays in this collection situate women as a distinct category in society and reflect on the ways women have navigated through the obstacles that have confronted them historically and their extraordinary abilities to assert their autonomy as individuals and as groups. This book contributes to the ongoing exploration of women’s lives and makes a unique contribution to the scholarly investigation of the experiences of women as they negotiate multiple identities and navigate discourses on development and modernity.