A 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 ... Read morehow 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 Show Less