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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thomas, Lynn M.

Series:

ACLS Fellows’ publications.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Kenya--History.

Women.

Female genital mutilation--Kenya--History.

Female genital mutilation.

Women--Kenya--Social conditions.

Sex role--Kenya.

Sex role.

Kenya--Social conditions.

Kenya.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (318 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In more than a metaphorical sense, 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 have been crucial to the exercise of colonial and postcolonial power. This innovative book enriches the study of gender, reproduction, sexuality, and African history by revealing how reproductive controversies challenged long-standing social hierarchies and contributed to the construction of new ones that continue to influence the fraught politics of abortion, birth control, female genital cutting, and HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

List Of Abbreviations

Introduction

1. Imperial Populations And "Women's Affairs"

2. Colonial Uplift And Girl-Midwives

3. Mau Mau And The Girls Who "Circumcised Themselves"

4. Late Colonial Customs And Wayward Schoolgirls

5. Postcolonial Nationalism And "Modern" Single Mothers

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

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

ISBN:

9786612762765

9781597348188

159734818X

9781282762763

1282762761

9780520936645

0520936647

OCLC:

475928506