Gender Politics In Sudan » (1st Edition)

Sondra Hale is adjunct associate professor in anthropology and women’s studies at the University of California at Los Angeles.

This work explores the relationship between gender and the state in the construction of national identity politics in twentieth-century Sudan, focusing on the mechanisms that the state and political and religious interest groups employ to achieve political and cultural hegemony. Looking at the involvement of women in both left-wing and Islamist revolutionary movements, Hale investigates the conditions under which women’s culture can be active, generative, positive expressions of resistance and transformation. She also raises questions about the limits that women may face, now that the Islamic state is achieving hegemony.

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Hale (anthropology and women's studies, U. of California-Los Angeles) draws on data from fieldwork between 1961 and 1988 to examine how both state and religious institutions in Sudan strive for political and cultural hegemony by involving women in left- wing and Islamist revolutionary movements. She also shows how women's culture can actively generate positive expressions of resistance and transformation, but doubts their success against the rapidly consolidating state. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)