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Research ArticleArticle

Marriage Certificates and Walker Cards

Nigerian Migrant Labor, Wives, and Prostitutes in Colonial Fernando Pó

ROBIN P. CHAPDELAINE
African Economic History, January 2020, 48 (2) 1-36; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/aeh.48.2.1
ROBIN P. CHAPDELAINE
Robin P. Chapdelaine (), Assistant Professor, McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts, Duquesne University.
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Abstract

This article focuses on Nigerian labor migration to the Spanish colony of Fernando Pó during the colonial era. The Spanish Labor Office recruited Nigerian men and encouraged them to bring their wives so that they could provide men some ‘comfort’ while in the colony for the duration of their contracts. Women—legitimate and fictitious wives, traders, and prostitutes—saw this opportunity as a way to improve their autonomy and money-earning capacities. I argue that Spanish authorities opened up spaces wherein Southeastern Nigerian women successfully strategized their way into the colony by recognizing the administration’s desire for wives to join husbands. Through the use of marriage certificates and declarations, women gained access to economic and social mobility through migration. This article unveils the ideological and real tension between secular migrant recruiters who lured men with the promise of professionalized work and large incomes, Spanish and British authorities who temporarily legalized prostitution, and the Catholic colonial regime that denounced prostitution and demanded the repatriation of sex workers in clear objection to the colonial ethos, which had become embedded in presence of the sexualized female body.

  • © 2020 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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African Economic History: 48 (2)
African Economic History
Vol. 48, Issue 2
1 Jan 2020
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Marriage Certificates and Walker Cards
ROBIN P. CHAPDELAINE
African Economic History Jan 2020, 48 (2) 1-36; DOI: 10.3368/aeh.48.2.1

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Marriage Certificates and Walker Cards
ROBIN P. CHAPDELAINE
African Economic History Jan 2020, 48 (2) 1-36; DOI: 10.3368/aeh.48.2.1
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Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Historical Context
    • Southeastern Nigeria
    • Consequences for Vulnerable Children
    • Prostitution in Fernando Pó
    • The Problem with Marriage Certificates
    • Unsuitable Living Conditions
    • Conclusion
    • Acknowledgment
    • Footnotes
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

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