Infibulation: Female Mutilation in Islamic Northeastern Africa

by Esther Hicks

Overview

Infibulation is the most extreme form of female circumci- sion. It plays an important role in the Islamic societies of northeastern Africa. Until now, the social significance and function of this practice has been poorly understood. In this volume, Hicks analyzes female circumcision as a cultural trait embedded in a historically traditional milieu and shows why it cannot be treated in isolation as a single issue destined for elimination.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781351294508
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/16/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	326
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Esther Hicks

Table of Contents

Figures, Maps, Plots, and Tables Preface xi Introduction 1. Infibulation: Description, Function, and Diffusion Function: Indigenous and Academic Perspectives Diffusion 2. The Socioeconomic Distribution of Infibulation Pastoralism in Northeastern Africa and the Sudan Pastoral-Rural-Urban Interaction and Infibulation 3. Infibulation in the Social Nexus Closed Cultural Systems Islam: A Closed Cultural System Social Space in Islamic Societies Gender Identification and Differentiation in Open and Closed Cultural Systems The Status Position of Women in Infibulation-Practicing Societies Marriage Customs and Laws: An Overview Male Absenteeism, Sexual Abstinence, Sleeping Arrangements, and Infibulation Fertility Levels and Patterns, Mortality and Birthrates, Sex Ratio Distribution, and Infibulation 4. Methodological Approach and Research Strategy The Problem of Sources Sample Selection and Statistical Analysis Statistical Analysis The HOMALS-technique 5. Infibulation and the Composite Variables The Variables Considered Marriage, Status, and the Practice of Infibulation Early Marriage and Infibulation The Composite Variables 6. The Future of Infibulation

Editorial Reviews

Painstaking research and documentation support the conclusions of this unusual work. . . . This work presents an interesting challenge to feminist assumptions and to Western conceptions of human rights.” —Caroline Hooper-Box, Foreign Affairs “[The] influx to the West of immigrants from the Horn of Africa and adjacent areas has activated the issue of female infibulation in Western discourse. Voices from the media, health sector and the general public have called for information, explanation and action. The present book which basically concerns the existence and distribution of female infibulation takes up this challenge.” —Aud Talle, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute “Hick’s thesis is a powerful one. . . . An informative and analytical discussion about infibulation, past, present and future.” —Louise Hulton, Population Studies “A useful introduction to the topic because it contains much background information, is dispassionate in tone, and entirely avoids the sensationalism that often accompanies discussions of the topic.” —Nancy E. Gallagher, Middle East Studies Association Bulletin “Hicks reaches conclusions of considerable significance for would-be social engineers.” —Orbis

From the Publisher