Description
Book SynopsisGlobalizing the Postcolony: Contesting Discourses of Gender and Development in Francophone Africa is a study of development in the former French colonies of West Africa. It takes as its starting point the international community''s reporting on human and social development and gender in the developing areas which began systematically in 1990 and which has provided a framework for policy-making in this field. International reports suggest that the francophone African countries have been experiencing low levels of social development throughout the past two decades. These levels fall dramatically when the factor of gender is introduced to the point where statistically-speaking francophone African women have had less access to social development than any other population in the world. This study analyzes current thinking on the challenges facing gender and development in Africa, before moving on to examine the historical factors marking the gender and development profile of the francopho
Trade ReviewA triumph of detailed and sound research, Claire H. Griffith's Globalizing the Postcolony. Contesting Discourses of Gender and Development in Francophone Africa is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in issues concerning the intersection of gender and development. Whether analyzing these issues in Senegal or Gabon, her two case studies, Griffith's book is an impeccably reasoned and convincing argument on how the discourses and policies of development evolved within Francophone Africa with the influx of globalizing interventions, and the impact they have on women's lives. Using a variety of sources contextualized in history, Globalizing the Postcolony is careful to take local cultures into account. One standout innovation is Griffith's ability to push critical theories to their limits by daring to make aesthetic/subjective analyses from creative narrative accounts of politically engaged women novelists. The quantitative aspects of the book are rendered through analyses, tables and graphs, but the qualitative considerations attained through literary texts hold an equally important place-thus providing a fully integrated critical approach that revitalizes the debate. With enlightening and original conclusions, Globalizing the Postco -- Irène Assiba d'Almeida, University of Arizona
This timely book provides a subtle discussion on gender and development in francophone sub-Saharan Africa from the end of the Second World War up to the present day. In this meticulously researched monograph Claire Griffiths explores the UN-driven agenda to develop conceptual models, which are, it is argued here, too monolingual and universalizing to bridge the gender gap between the Western rich center and its impoverished peripheries. The novelty of the author's approach and methodology lies in the fact that the traditional tools of sociological enquiries are not so much dismissed as challenged in their ability to produce reliable results and redress gender inequalities. With this challenging study, Professor Griffiths has provided an invaluable service to policymakers and students of Francophone Africa. -- Pierre-Philippe Fraiture, Head of French Studies at the University of Warwick, UK
A triumph of detailed and sound research, Claire H. Griffiths' Globalizing the Postcolony. Contesting Discourses of Gender and Development in Francophone Africa is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in issues concerning the intersection of gender and development. Whether analyzing these issues in Senegal or Gabon, her two case studies, Griffiths' book is an impeccably reasoned and convincing argument on how the discourses and policies of development evolved within Francophone Africa with the influx of globalizing interventions, and the impact they have on women's lives. Using a variety of sources contextualized in history, Globalizing the Postcolony is careful to take local cultures into account. One standout innovation is Griffiths' ability to push critical theories to their limits by daring to make aesthetic/subjective analyses from creative narrative accounts of politically engaged women novelists. The quantitative aspects of the book are rendered through analyses, tables and graphs, but the qualitative considerations attained through literary texts hold an equally important place—thus providing a fully integrated critical approach that revitalizes the debate. -- Irène Assiba d'Almeida, University of Arizona
Table of ContentsPart 1 Part One: Is There a Gender and Development Crisis in Francophone Africa? Chapter 2 Chapter One: Gender and Development in Francophone Africa: The Making of a Crisis Chapter 3 Chapter Two: Science, Statistics, & Stories: In Search of Methodology Part 4 Part Two: When Gender and Development Went Global Chapter 5 Chapter Three: The Origins of a Global Discourse, 1945 to1990 Chapter 6 Chapter Four: 'Good Governance' for Development, 1990-2000 Chapter 7 Chapter Five: The Millennium Summit and Beyond: Writing Women out of Development? Part 8 Part Three: From the Global to the Postcolony: Data Profiling in Gabon and Senegal Chapter 9 Chapter Six: Mapping Gender and Development: The Tools of the Trade Chapter 10 Chapter Seven: Senegal: A Monitoring Model for Francophone Africa? Chapter 11 Chapter Eight: Gabon: At the Limits of the Data Profile Chapter 12 Chapter Nine: Measuring Gender and Development: Challenges for Francophone Africa Part 13 Part Four: In Search of Context and Culture 1: Historicizing Gender Chapter 14 Chapter Ten: Sex and Status in Pre-colonial Africa Chapter 15 Chapter Eleven: Engendering the Colony: France in Africa Part 16 Part Five: In Search of Context and Culture : Locating Gender Chapter 17 Chapter Twelve: Speaking the Language of Gender and Development in Senegal Chapter 18 Chapter Thirteen: International Agencies and the Agenda for Change in Senegal Chapter 19 Chapter Fourteen: Theorizing Gender and Development in the Academy Chapter 20 Chapter Fifteen: Voicing Dissent and Contesting Change in Civil Society Part 21 Part Six: Writing Gender and Development: Culture, Context, and Change in Francophone Africa Chapter 22 Chapter Sixteen: The Literary Politics of Gender and Development Chapter 23 Chapter Seventeen: Writing Gender and Development: the Birth of a Literary Voice Chapter 24 Chapter Eighteen: Modernization and Marginalization in the Francophone African Feminist Novel Part 25 Conclusions Chapter 26 Chapter Nineteen: Harnessing Culture for Gender and Development
