Dress Cultures in Zambia - Interwoven Histories, Global Exchanges, and Everyday Life

Drawing on half-a-century of research in Zambia, Karen Tranberg Hansen offers a vibrant, detailed account of changing dress practices from the late-colonial period to the present day. Brought to life with colour illustrations and personal anecdotes, this book examines how dress cultures engage with wider social, economic, and political issues.

List of contents

List of Figures; Acknowledgments; Prologue: the global world of dress in Zambia; 1. Dress practice as history; Part I. Dressing Well: 2. The migration nexus; 3. Dressing for freedom: snapshot 1. The national fabric; Part II. Dress and Undress: 4. Dress, undress, body, and nation; 5. Miniskirts and dangerous dress practice: snapshot 2. Chitenge; 6. The dramaturgy of body politics: snapshot 3. Accessories; Part III. Fashionable Transformations: Chapter 7. Youth and urban cultures of consumption: snapshot 4. Salaula; Chapter 8. Fashioning demonstrative displays:snapshot 5. 'Chinese clothes'; Chapter 9. Dressing Zambian: snapshot 6. A digital fitting room; Conclusion; References; Index.

About the author

Karen Tranberg Hansen is Professor Emerita at Northwestern University. Her research focuses on the informal economy, clothing, and consumption. Her previous publications include Distant Companions: Servants and Employers in Zambia, 1900–1985 (1989), African Encounters with Domesticity (1992), Keeping House in Lusaka (1997) and Salaula: The World of Secondhand Clothing and Zambia (2000), which was awarded the Anthony Leeds Prize in Urban Anthropology in 2001, and the Society of Economic Anthropology Book Award in 2003. She is the recipient of several book prizes and awards including the Conrad M. Arensberg Award from the Society for the Anthropology of Work in 1997.

Product details

• Authors: Karen Tranberg (Northwestern University Hansen, Hansen Karen Tranberg
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 31.05.2025
• EAN: 9781009350341
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0935034-1
• No. of pages: 222
• Series: The International African Library
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; HISTORY / Africa / General, Zambia, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100, Social and cultural anthropology, African History, Relating to people of the African diasporas / heritage, Cultural studies: dress and society, National or regional costume / textiles