Gendered Labor Relations in Colonial and Post-Colonial Eritrea

Abstract

Eritrean women have always been active in the national economy although rarely their impact has been pinpointed, appreciated, and estimated by scholars. This article is an attempt to provide a long-term perspective about women’s presence in the Eritrean labor market as well as their labor relations, applying the taxonomy developed by the Global Collaboratory on the History of Labor Relations at the International Institute of Social History. The colonial 1905 census, the Four Power Commission’s Report on Eritrea, and the Eritrea Demographic and Health Survey 2002, serve as bases to guestimate female workforce and labor relations at the early, mid, and late twentieth century.