Undesirable Practices
Women, Children, and the Politics of the Body in Northern Ghana, 1930–1972
- 320 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Undesirable Practices
Women, Children, and the Politics of the Body in Northern Ghana, 1930–1972
About this book
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.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Series Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1. Die a Natural Death
- 2. R. S. Rattray, Anthropology, and the Making of Undesirable Practices in Northern Ghana
- 3. Female Circumcision as Undesirable in the Northeast, ca. 1930–1933
- 4. Child Slavery, Pawning, and Trafficking in Late-Colonial Bawku, 1941–1948
- 5. Put Some Clothes On or Nkrumah Will Get You!
- 6. Orphaned Children and Unruly Girls
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- About Jessica Cammaert
- Series List