Mrs Shirley Ardener Centre for Cross-Cultural Research on Women,University of Oxford Sandra Burman Senior Member of the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research on Women, University of Oxford and Director of the Socio-legal Unit, University of Cape Town

Preface 1. Women Making Money Go Round: ROSCAs Revisited PART I: Africa 2. Building New Realities: African Women and ROSCAs in Urban South Africa 3. The Kiambu Group: A Successful Women's ROSCA in Mathare Valley, Nairobi (1971 to 1990) 4. A Note on ROSCAs among Ethiopian Women in Addis Ababa and Eritrean Women in Oxford 5. Mobilizing Cash for Business: Women in Rotating Susu Clubs in Ghana 6. Women's Access to and the Control of Credit in Cameroon: The Mamfe Case 7. Looking at Financial Landscapes: A Contextual Analysis of ROSCAs in Cameroon PART II: Asia 8. Women's Differential Use of ROSCAs in Indonesia 9. Economic Kou (ROSCAs) in Japan: A Review 10. Women's ROSCAs in Contemporary Indian Society 11. Gender Inequality, ROSCAs and Sectoral Employment Strategies: Questions from the South Indian Silk Industry PART III: Diasporas 12. ROSCAs among South Asians in Oxford 13. A Note on ROSCAs among Northern Somali Women in the United Kingdom 14. Gender Differences in ROSCA Participation within Korean Business Households in Los Angeles 15. Gold Coins and Coffee ROSCAs: Coping with Inflation the Turkish Way in Northern Cyprus 16. Women's Use of ROSCAs in the Caribbean: Reassessing the Literature

On most continents - from the USA to Africa and Asia - various forms of rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) serve men and women of the community, often as their major -- and sometimes their only -- savings institution. ROSCAs are self-help money-pooling associations with participants who agree to make regular contributions to a fund which is given, in whole or in part, to each contributor in rotation. Many ROSCAs have elaborate systems to cope with inflation, default and the distribution of benefits. In providing important social and welfare resources they constitute valuable social capital.This unique volume of case studies by an international group of experts, which examines ROSCAs on a worldwide basis, will be of interest to anyone studying or concerned with anthropology, economics, women's issues, and especially the welfare of the less developed countries and immigrant communities in 'the West'.