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Female "Circumcision" in Africa : Culture, Controversy, Change / ed. by Ylva Hernlund, Bettina Shell-Duncan.
- Format:
- Book
- Series:
- Directions in Applied Anthropology: Adaptations and Innovations Series
- Directions in Applied Anthropology: Adaptations and Innovations
- Language:
- English
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (352 p.)
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- Boulder : Lynne Rienner Publishers, [2022]
- Language Note:
- In English.
- Summary:
- Though the issue of female genital cutting, or "circumcision," has become a nexus for debates on cultural relativism, human rights, patriarchal oppression, racism, and Western imperialism, the literature has been separated by diverse fields of study. In contrast, this volume brings together contributors from anthropology, public health, political science, demography, history, and epidemiology to critically examine current debates and initiatives, and to explore the role that scholars can and should—or should not—play in approaching the issue. Case studies from nine African countries where female genital cutting (FGC) is traditionally and currently performed evaluate the impact of international efforts to eliminate the practice. A focus on local reactions to external involvement underscores that the myriad programs fashioned to effect changes in FGC ritual and procedure must be initiated and supported by indigenous communities if they are to be lasting and effective.
- Contents:
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Female “Circumcision” in Africa: Dimensions of the Practice and Debates
- 2 Is Female “Circumcision” a Maladaptive Cultural Pattern?
- 3 To Marry and Bear Children? The Demographic Consequences of Infibulation in Sudan
- 4 Female “Circumcision” Among the Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria: The Beginning of Change
- 5 Female Genital Cutting in Nigeria: Views of Nigerian Doctors on the Medicalization Debate
- 6 Women Without Choices: The Debate over Medicalization of Female Genital Cutting and Its Impact on a Northern Kenyan Community
- 7 “Ngaitana (I Will Circumcise Myself)”: Lessons from Colonial Campaigns to Ban Excision in Meru, Kenya
- 8 Revisiting Feminist Discourses on Infibulation: Responses from Sudanese Feminists
- 9 Adopting Female “Circumcision” in Southern Chad: The Experience of Myabé
- 10 Handing over the Knife: Numu Women and the Campaign Against Excision in Mali
- 11 Becoming a Muslim, Becoming a Person: Female “Circumcision,” Religious Identity, and Personhood in Guinea-Bissau
- 12 Cutting Without Ritual and Ritual Without Cutting: Female “Circumcision” and the Re-ritualization of Initiation in the Gambia
- 13 Female Genital Cutting: The Beginning of the End
- 14 Rites and Wrongs: An Insider/ Outsider Reflects on Power and Excision
- Bibliography
- The Contributors
- Index
- About the Book
- Notes:
- Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Jun 2022)
- ISBN:
- 1-68585-003-0
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