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History General

Gendering the African Diaspora

Women, Culture, and Historical Change in the Caribbean and Nigerian Hinterland

edited by Judith A. Byfield, LaRay Denzer & Anthea Morrison

contributions by Faith Lois Smith, Linda Sturtz, Antonia MacDonald-Smythe, Verene A. Shepherd, Brinsley Samaroo, Olatunji Ojo, Janice Mayers, Hakim Adi, Gloria Chuku & Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome

Publisher
Indiana University Press
Initial publish date
Feb 2010
Category
General, General, Americas, African American Studies
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780253221537
    Publish Date
    Feb 2010
    List Price
    $46.00

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Where to buy it

Description

This volume builds on and extends current discussions of the construction of gendered identities and the networks through which men and women engage diaspora. It considers the movement of people and ideas between the Caribbean and the Nigerian hinterland. The contributions examine Africa in the Caribbean imaginary, the way in which gender ideologies inform Caribbean men's and women's theoretical or real-life engagement with the continent, and the interactions and experiences of Caribbean travelers in Africa and Europe. The contributions are linked as well through empire, discussing different parts of the British Empire and allowing for the comparative examination of colonial policies and practices.

About the authors

Contributor Notes

Judith A. Byfield is Associate Professor in the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University and author of The Bluest Hands: A Social and Economic History of Women Dyers in Abeokuta (Nigeria), 1890–1940.

LaRay Denzer is Visiting Scholar in the Department of History at Santa Clara University. She is author (with Jane I. Guyer and Adigun A. B. Agbaje) of Money Struggles and City Life: Devaluation in Ibadan and Other Urban Centers in Southern Nigeria, 1986–1996.

Anthea Morrison is Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Literatures in English, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus (Jamaica).

Editorial Reviews

In foregrounding women's changing forms of engagement during their border-crossing encounters, we also gain important knowledge about both changing gender ideologies and changing politics, policies, and political movements across the African diaspora at given historical periods. This is a critically important and interesting addition not only to diaspora studies, but also to our general knowledge about gender roles in the Caribbean and hinterland Nigeria.

New York University

[T]his is a strong and enjoyable contribution to deepen our understanding of complex gendered processes, serving as an antidote to studies of diaspora that 'obscure ideas of class and nation [and] gender as well' . . . and an antidote to accounts which present women too readily as victims.

Leeds African Studies Bulletin