Undesirable Practices: Women, Children, and the Politics of the Body in Northern Ghana, 1930–1972

Author:   Jessica Cammaert
Publisher:   University of Nebraska Press
ISBN:  

9780803286801


Pages:   306
Publication Date:   01 July 2016
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Undesirable Practices: Women, Children, and the Politics of the Body in Northern Ghana, 1930–1972


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Overview

Undesirable Practices examines both the intended and the unintended consequences of ""imperial feminism"" and British colonial interventions in ""undesirable"" cultural practices in northern Ghana. Jessica Cammaert addresses the state management of social practices such as female circumcision, nudity, prostitution, and ""illicit"" adoption as well as the hesitation to impose severe punishments for the slave dealing of females, particularly female children. She examines the gendered power relations and colonial attitudes that targeted women and children spanning pre- and postcolonial periods, the early postindependence years, and post-Nkrumah policies. In particular, Cammaert examines the limits of the male colonial gaze and argues that the power lay not in the gaze itself but in the act of ""looking away,"" a calculated aversion of attention intended to maintain the tribal community and retain control over the movement, sexuality, and labor of women and children. With its examination of broader time periods and topics and its complex analytical arguments, Undesirable Practices makes a valuable contribution to literature in African studies, contemporary advocacy discourse, women and gender studies, and critical postcolonial studies.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jessica Cammaert
Publisher:   University of Nebraska Press
Imprint:   University of Nebraska Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.603kg
ISBN:  

9780803286801


ISBN 10:   0803286805
Pages:   306
Publication Date:   01 July 2016
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1. Die a Natural Death: Responses to the Questionnaire on “Customs Affecting the Status of Women in West Africa,” ca. 19302. R. S. Rattray, Anthropology, and the Making of Undesirable Practices in Northern Ghana3. Female Circumcision as Undesirable in the Northeast, ca. 1930–19334. Child Slavery, Pawning, and Trafficking in Late-Colonial Bawku, 1941–19485. Put Some Clothes On or Nkrumah Will Get You! Antinudity Campaigns in the Nkrumah Era, 1958–19666. Orphaned Children and Unruly Girls: Youth and Undesirability After Nkrumah, 1965–1972Conclusion: Undesirable Practices in Africa: Averting the Male GazeNotesBibliographyIndex

Reviews

As a cultural anthropologist, I find [Cammaert s] work especially useful for providing a deeper (in time) understanding of how African culture and gender socialization has been reshaped over the decades. Angela R. Bratton, associate professor of anthropology at Georgia Regents University and the author of An Anthropological Study of Factors Affecting the Construction of Sexuality in Ghana --Angela R. Bratton (09/15/2015)


As a cultural anthropologist, I find [Cammaert's] work especially useful for providing a deeper (in time) understanding of how African culture and gender socialization has been reshaped over the decades. -Angela R. Bratton, associate professor of anthropology at Georgia Regents University and the author of An Anthropological Study of Factors Affecting the Construction of Sexuality in Ghana -- Angela R. Bratton What a powerful project! . . . This volume reframes and complicates the arguments and practices in new and significant ways. . . . [This is] a unique and welcome contribution to the literature. -Beth Blue Swadener, coeditor of Children's Rights and Education: International Perspectives -- Beth Blue Swadener Cammaert's book is well-written and, most importantly, sheds light on the so-called undesirable practices, revealing more than policy-oriented studies alone. . . . This book gives a voice to a localized group of Africans in Northeastern Ghana and focuses on specific issues the inhabitants had to deal with during the colonial and early post-colonial periods. This is an important contribution to the studies related to female genital mutilation, nudity, human trafficking, and prostitution. -Aliou Ly, African Studies Review -- Aliou Ly * African Studies Review *


What a powerful project! ... While many books address certain topics covered, including female circumcision and prostitution, as well as children's rights and welfare, this volume reframes and complicates the arguments and practices in new and significant ways-in a colonial context over a period of decades... [This] a unique and welcome contribution to the literature. -Beth Blue Swadener, editor of Children's Rights and Education: International Perspectives -- Beth Blue Swadener As a cultural anthropologist, I find [Cammaert's] work especially useful for providing a deeper (in time) understanding of how African culture and gender socialization has been reshaped over the decades. -Angela R. Bratton, associate professor of anthropology at Georgia Regents University and the author of An Anthropological Study of Factors Affecting the Construction of Sexuality in Ghana -- Angela R. Bratton


“What a powerful project! . . . This volume reframes and complicates the arguments and practices in new and significant ways. . . . [This is] a unique and welcome contribution to the literature.”—Beth Blue Swadener, coeditor of Children’s Rights and Education: International Perspectives  “As a cultural anthropologist, I find [Cammaert’s] work especially useful for providing a deeper (in time) understanding of how African culture and gender socialization has been reshaped over the decades.”—Angela R. Bratton, associate professor of anthropology at Georgia Regents University and the author of An Anthropological Study of Factors Affecting the Construction of Sexuality in Ghana


Author Information

Jessica Cammaert is an instructor in African history at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

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