Female Circumcision and the Politics of Knowledge: African Women in Imperialist Discourses - Softcover

Nnaemeka, Obioma

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0897898656 ISBN 13: 9780897898652

Publisher: Praeger, 2005

Synopsis

Heated debates about and insurgencies against female circumcision are symptoms of a disease emanating from a mindset that produced hierarchies of humans, conquered colonies, and built empires. The loss of colonies and empires does not in any way mitigate the ideological underpinnings of empire-building and the knowledge construction that subtends it. The mindset finds its articulation at points of coalescence. Female circumcision provided a point of coalescence and impetus for this articulation. Insisting that the hierarchy on which the imperialist project rests is not bipolar but multi-layered and more complex, the contributions in this volume demonstrate how imperialist discourses complicate issues of gender, race, and history. Nnaemeka gives voice to the silenced and marginalized, and creates space for them to participate in knowledge construction and theory making.

The authors in this volume trace the travels of imperial and colonial discourses from antecedents in anthropology, travel writings, and missionary discourse, to modern configurations in films, literature, and popular culture. The contributors interrogate foreign, or Western, modus operandi and interventions in the so-called Third World and show how the resistance they generate can impede development work and undermine the true collaboration and partnership necessary to promote a transnational feminist agenda. With great clarity and in simple, accessible language, the contributors present complex ideas and arguments which hold significant implications for transnational feminism and development.

About this title

Book Description

By exposing the colonial and imperial discourses that undergird the global debate on female circumcision, this important work creates a space for the marginalized to speak and mount their challenges and proposes strategies for creating a transnational feminist movement that fosters genuine collaboration and partnership.

About the Author

Obioma Nnaemeka is Professor of French, Women's Studies, and African/African Diaspora Studies and Director of the Women's Studies Program at Indiana University, Indianapolis. She is also the President of the Association of African Women Scholars. Professor Nnaemeka has published extensively on literature, women's/gender studies, development, and African/African Diaspora studies.

About this edition

• Publisher: Praeger
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0897898656
• ISBN 13: 9780897898652
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296