Regendering Afrikanerdom: The 1899–1902 Anglo-Boer War

This chapter focuses on the role of women in the development of Afrikaner nationalism during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902 and highlights the complex interplay of race, gender, and nation in South Africa at this time. The chapter shows the terrifying tenacity of Boer women to the winning of the war against the British in South Africa 1899–1902 (even in the face of hunger and deaths in the concentration camps). The author offers a striking example here of how interrogating the gendered dimensions of nationalism may disrupt conventional wisdom in both directions: During the Boer War, white rural Boer women bore the brunt of suffering and, infused with zealous religious patriotism, proved to be the more bellicose sex, urging their men to fight to the death and refusing to surrender despite harrowing experiences in concentration camps. Appropriating a previously male domain, these women nurtured anti-imperialist, maternalist cultural nationalism in their families and associations after the war.