Zambezia (1993), XX (i).BOOK REVIEWSPeasants, Traders and Wives: Shona Women in the History of Zimbabwe,1870-1939 By E. Schmidt. Harare, Baobab; Portsmouth NH, Heinemann;London, Currey, Social History of Africa, 1992, xiii, 289 pp., ISBN 0-435-08066-0 (pbk), Z$90,00.Elizabeth Schmidt's book is one of the first of a new wave of works byhistorians, as opposed to anthropologists and sociologists, that seek tocorrect the imbalance in Zimbabwean historical writing by focusing onAfrican women. As Schmidt points out, while over forty years the historiesof Zimbabwe have progressively shifted in emphasis from White Rhodesiansto Africans and from African elites to African workers and peasants, theyhave lagged behind histories from elsewhere in Africa in failing to recognizethe 'centrality' of women in history. Centrality can be a treacherous conceptbecause it has a connotation of 'unique importance' when in fact manyfacets of history are equally important. Schmidt has undertaken the trickytask of highlighting one seriously neglected issue without divorcing itfrom its context, and on the whole she has been most successful in thisendeavour. Historians pioneering new and entirely different emphases inthe future, whatever they may be, will stand very much in her debt.As is well known, researching the history of women in Africa is noteasy. Indeed, evidence about women is not easy to find in most of the 500years of recorded Zimbabwean history Š which is no reason why itshould not be sought. Schmidt's starting date of 1870 corresponds roughlywith the period for which reliable evidence begins to become available. Atthis point, however, the researcher has a problem: as the bulk of evidencein documents increases from inadequacy in 1870 towards the relativelysatisfactory quantity of the colonial period, it becomes more difficult tohandle. Whereas the researcher using the documents of the 1870s and1880s is tempted to use all available material for the whole country, this ispractically impossible for the 1930s: a history of men in the 1930s wouldbe unwieldy, but a complete history of women in the 1930s would benearly as difficult to write. There are two time-honoured ways of dealingwith the problem. One is the choice of a special area, using oral traditionsand oral histories. The other is the selection of specific themes covered bythe documents in the modern period. Schmidt combines these approaches.To begin with, she takes the Goromonzi District, a virtually ideal choice,and carries out an intensive documentary and oral history study of womenin 'traditional' society (chapter 1) and women as agriculturalists facingthe colonial state (chapters 2 and 3). She then develops the themes ofwomen as the targets of male social control (chapter 4), women in theorbit of the mission (chapter 5) and women as domestic servants(chapter 6), to name the main topics. Chapter 5 does pay attention to thewomen of Goromonzi, but most of the second half of the book ranges verywidely indeed. Here, Schmidt draws upon previously published articles,and to some extent her book begins to resemble a collection of papersrather than a single argument. What she has to say in the last threechapters is often fascinating, but it might well have been summarized,7778 BOOK REVIEWSleaving even more room for the women of Goromonzi and their history asa case study of Zimbabwean women.Schmidt's case study of Goromonzi is very thoroughly researchedindeed, and it advances the neglected history of women considerably,demolishing several myths that place women in rigid categories. However,it has some defects. One is that it borrows too often from works on otherareas. Schmidt often uses Bazeley's article on Manyika headwomen1 whileneglecting such cases in Goromonzi as the Koswa female 'chief, Nemasangaof Seke, and Mwende of Samuriwo that are much more relevant. Anotherdefect is that, whereas Schmidt makes much use of court cases and oralhistories she rarely, if ever, combines the two to get at the history behindthe cases. Indeed Schmidt does not give full weight to the fact that, like itor not, Goromonzi's women were 'central' to four or five major patrilinealgroups. For example, it was the murder of the women Recha and Wandi-mirwa by Madzivanyika of the Chinamhora lineage that sparked the civilwar in Chishawasha mentioned by Seed and Chidziwa in their NADAarticles.2 Schmidt uses the anthropology of Peter Fry to inform her historicalwork, but misses some opportunities to use history to modify anthropo-logical theory. *A third criticism that could be made is that, while Schmidt rightlycriticizes earlier works as being ungendered, like them hers is not entirelynumerate Š and numeracy is also central to history. For example, in 1904there were 4 602 married women counted in the district, at least 65 ofJ)m^ereur.eported M havin8 fled from their husbands between 1899r. oimY f M many ^ 95 unmarried females out of approximately 300(.not 1491) refused to marry their assigned husbands. In addition, therewere an average of about 60 marital disputes a year at this time (p. 22).nv^fTr i i^«i ? the annual averaSe of divorce petitions was justhlnoii-01' ^ WlM*her this means that Shona marriages were becomingwtthPh»» m<JaoQtabJe> or that a Pictorial 'backlog' was being dealtwith between 1899 and 1905, or that from 1931 to 1939 the colonial author-LtB ?3 Patr«archs were suppressing the evidence of maritalf Ł l.T at *" Clear- However. we al-e increasingly dependent1 ? ,i'lstorical analysis, and even the dubious figures of thesSvthan>f^Iihandled carelu"y. tell us much more aboutsociety than individual examplesit h J, r»fi!lleifS'»fItl?<?ugh **""*'» book is primarily based on examples,OneisX hi«ton^ ?f'ssues that historians ought to look at in the futureUne is the history of the household in Zimbabwe. As Schmidt puts it:IJ^^IT^ O!,woinen's subordination in both the domestic and social spheresare negotiated, disputed and transformed over time. Hence, the household is aI*' , °' stru«?le' manifest in disputes over the allocation of labor, control overfemale reproduction, the distribution of resources, etc., the outcome of whichJ W. S. Bazeley, Manica headwomen', NADA (1940), 3-5ilS^i"'6 hlStOry''NADA <193<^ 5-1* J. Chidziwa, -History of theBOOK REVIEWS 79helps to shape the broader society, as the household in turn is shaped by thosebroader social forces (p. 1).This view of the Shona household as a kind of Passchendaele Wood isa feature of Schmidt's book, though her views are not in fact so simplistic.Her women of Goromonzi toil away at agriculture, gold-washing, tradingcrafts and a host of other tasks. They are variously oppressed by theirfathers, husbands, officials and missionaries, and occasionally bully eachother. There is no doubt that all this is true. Whether it is the whole storyis another matter.University of Zimbabwe D. BEACHA Guide to Zimbabwean Administrative Law By G. Feltoe. Harare, LegalResources Foundation, 1991, vi, 62 pp., ISBN 0-908312-04-0, Z$15,00.A Guide to Sentencing in Zimbabwe By G. Feltoe. Harare, Legal ResourcesFoundation, 1991, xvi, 215 pp., ISBN 0-908312-03-2, Z$26,00.A Guide to Zimbabwean Criminal Law By G. Feltoe. Harare, LegalResources Foundation, 1991, viii, 142 pp., ISBN 0-908312-00-8, Z$15,00.A Guide to the Zimbabwean Law of Delict By G. Feltoe. Harare, LegalResources Foundation, 1990, xii, 126 pp., ISBN 0-908312-02-4, Z$15,00.It is essential to understand from the outset the purpose of these guides.They are not intended to be exhaustive accounts of Zimbabwean law, butrather they are designed to provide an introduction to certain specificaspects of the law. Equally important is their role as source books fromwhich Zimbabwean cases may be referred to quickly and easily. This isobviously useful for legal practitioners and students seeking localprecedents.In his introduction to A Guide to Zimbabwean Administrative Law,Feltoe tells us that this branch of the law is concerned with 'the adminis-tration of the state, that is, the detailed and practical implementation ofthe policies of Central Government aimed at the running of the state'(p. vi). Appropriately enough, Feltoe begins with an account of what deleg-ated or subsidiary legislation is. This is important because delegatedlegislation is the primary instrument for regulating and supervising awhole host of activities within the state. The various different types ofdelegated legislation are clearly set out Š as are the procedures neededfor their creation. In this connection it is pleasing to note that Feltoe paysgreat attention to the need for controls in ensuring that subsidiary law-making bodies do not exceed or abuse their powers.Feltoe describes in appropriate detail the nature and purpose ofadministrative tribunals, which he states 'are bodies other than courts oflaw which are given the power to resolve disputes and to decide cases'(p. 7). In the course of looking at the relationship between tribunals andi iiiiMi^