Kaberry

Kaberry was a prominent Australian social anthropologist known for her fieldwork among Aboriginal Australians and in West Africa, particularly in the French Cameroons (now Cameroon). Her work focused on gender roles, kinship systems, religion, and social change.

Biography and Career:

Phyllis Mary Kaberry (1910-1977) was born in England and received her anthropological training at the London School of Economics (LSE) under the supervision of Bronisław Malinowski. She conducted her first major fieldwork among the Aboriginal people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia in the 1930s. This research resulted in her publication Aboriginal Woman, Sacred and Profane (1939), a groundbreaking study of the lives and roles of Aboriginal women.

After World War II, Kaberry shifted her research focus to West Africa. She spent considerable time in the French Cameroons studying the Nsaw (also known as the Nso') people. Her research there led to publications on their political organization, economy, and religious beliefs. Her most significant work from this period is Women of the Grassfields: A Study of the Economic Position of Women in Bamenda, British Cameroons (1952), which explored the crucial role of women in the agricultural economy and social structure of the region.

Kaberry held academic positions at the University of Sydney and University College London. She made significant contributions to the understanding of gender and kinship in both Australian Aboriginal and African societies. Her work is valued for its detailed ethnographic descriptions and insightful analyses of social structures and cultural practices.

Major Contributions:

• Focus on Gender: Kaberry's research gave significant attention to the roles and experiences of women in societies that were often studied through a male-centric lens. Aboriginal Woman, Sacred and Profane was a pioneering work in feminist anthropology.
• Ethnographic Detail: Her meticulous fieldwork and detailed ethnographic accounts provided valuable insights into the social organization and cultural practices of the communities she studied.
• Comparative Perspective: Kaberry's work contributed to a broader understanding of cross-cultural variations in gender roles, kinship systems, and social change.
• Influence on Later Anthropologists: Her work continues to influence anthropologists studying gender, kinship, and social organization in both Australia and Africa.

Major Works:

• Aboriginal Woman, Sacred and Profane (1939)
• Women of the Grassfields: A Study of the Economic Position of Women in Bamenda, British Cameroons (1952)