Politics of the womb : women, reproduction, and the state in Kenya / Lynn M. Thomas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thomas, Lynn M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Kenya--History.

Women.

Female genital mutilation--Kenya--History.

Female genital mutilation.

Women--Kenya--Social conditions.

Sex role.

History.

Kenya.

Social conditions.

Kenya--Social conditions.

Sex role--Kenya.

Physical Description:

xiii, 300 pages : maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2003]

Summary:

More than a metaphor, the womb has proven to be an important site of political struggle in and about Africa. By examining the political significance and complex ramifications of reproductive controversies in twentieth-century Kenya, this book explores why and how control of female initiation, abortion, childbirth, and premarital pregnancy has been crucial to the exercise of colonial and postcolonial power. A marked departure from previous accounts of the history of reproduction and sexuality in twentieth-century Africa, which have emphasized the breakdown of tradition or the power of colonial discourses, Lynn Thomas's work shows how Kenya's recent history is the product of the uneven entanglement of indigenous and imperial concerns.

Contents:

Imperial populations and "women's affairs"

Colonial uplift and girl-midwives

Mau Mau and the girls who "circumcised themselves"

Late colonial customs and wayward schoolgirls

Postcolonial nationalism and "modern" single mothers.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-287) and index.

ISBN:

0520224507

0520235401

OCLC:

50339429