During a turbulent colonial and postcolonial century; African women struggled to control their own marital; sexual and economic lives and to gain a significant voice in local and national politics. This book introduces many remarkable women; who organized religious and political movements; fought in anti-colonial wars; ran away to escape arranged marriages; and during the 1990s began successful campaigns for gender parity in national legislatures. The book also explores the apparent paradox in the conflicting images of African women - as singularly oppressed and dominated by men; but also as strong; resourceful; and willing to challenge governments and local traditions to protect themselves and their families. Understanding the tension between women's power and their oppression; between their strength and their vulnerability; offers a new lens for understanding the relationship between the state and society in the twentieth century.
#3011493 in Books Cambridge University Press 2005-11-14Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.98 x .75 x 5.98l; 1.19 #File Name: 0521672325338 pages
Review
9 of 24 people found the following review helpful. Or . . . Why Jews are NewsBy Ben PlonieI can do no better than to point you to the review of this book in the Chronicle of Higher Education by Danny Postel to be seen at [...] called The Rage of Reason: A scholar argues that Enlightenment thought was shaped by its obsession with Judaism.I have often been astounded at the virulent view of Jews/Israel/Zionism taken by the various humanist; progressive; liberal; and yes; 'enlightened' movements; the media and academia etc. that often align them with what you might call their otherwise sworn enemies; reactionary neo-Nazi skinhead Holocaust revisionists; the regressive Islamic fundamentalist movements and so on.Then there is the ridiculous 'Amen corner' of rabid anti-Zionists who pointedly call themselves Jewish as a validation of their advocacy: Israel Shahak; Israel Shamir; Noam Chomsky; Norman Finkelstein; Adam Shapiro; Bobby Fisher; Yossi Beilin; on and on and on; forgive me for not mentioning another ten thousand names well known to Jew haters.Even after taking Soviet propaganda and personal psychotic factors into account; or the odd social or political gaffe in Israel; there still remains a 'chicken-and-egg' feeling that leaves one wondering at its source. This beautifully expressed book sheds the kind of genuine enlightenment on this topic that could be an epiphany for any Jewish person wishing to comprehend the unneccesary religious/intellectual dichotomy; as well as the past; present and future history of the Middle East.
