Predicaments of Mursi (Mun) Women in Ethiopia's Changing World

Citation:

LaTosky, Shauna. 2013. Predicaments of Mursi (Mun) Women in Ethiopia’s Changing World. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.

Author: Shauna LaTosky

Abstract:

Currently, 'fast track' modern development schemes are being implemented in southwestern Ethiopia, with enormous impact on the lives of local indigenous peoples. In this book, LaTosky looks at the predicaments of modern life in Mursiland, and reveals how Mursi (Mun) women experience and interpret the changes that are affecting their everyday lives. Based on ethnographic research conducted in northern Mursiland between 2004 and 2009, the author examines how Mursi women rhetorically express their conceptions of the past, present and future, and how they negotiate what it means to live well in a changing world. Drawing on the personal narratives of three generations of Mursi women, and analysing these stories within a framework of rhetoric culture theory and feminist rhetoric theory, LaTosky reveals the ambiguities, tensions and social contradictions that arise when an agro-pastoralist community is confronted by modern change. The book also considers how Mursi women's experiences of being Mursi are shaped by their notions of gender, which in turn are shaped by rhetoric, and provides a critique of the universal enforcement of gender equality in the light of Mursi ideals of well-being. (Abstract from Amazon)

Annotation:

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Part I. "The Challenge: Unequal Citizenship"

1. "Comparative Perspectives on Citizen-Creation in Africa"

2. "The Historical Context for Modern Ethiopian Citizenship"

Part II. "The Response: The State and Its Citizens"

3. "Popular Responses to Unequal Citizenship

4. "A Referendum on Ethnic Identity and the Claims of Citizenship

5. "No Going Back on Self-Determination for the Oromo"

6. "Ethiopian Women and Citizenship Rights Deferred"

Topics: Citizenship, Development, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, Indigenous Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Ethiopia

Year: 2013