Women and Islamic Revival in a West African Town

Bibliographic Data

ID19933151
AuthorsAdeline Masquelier (corresponding author), Adeline Marie Masquelier
Year2009
Publication date2009-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueWomen and Islamic revival in a West African town (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherIndiana University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2979/5531.0
WikidataQ115785514
OpenAlexW413966141
Open LibraryOL23186394M
ISBN9780253353665
LanguageEN
Citations received46

Dogondoutchi is a small, provincial town in Niger, a West African country that is among the poorest in the world. It is also the site of Masquelier's anthropological research since the mid-1980s. In this book, Masquelier (Tulane) explores the timely and difficult topic of the impact of modern forms of Islamic revivalist movements on the Hausa-speaking population of this West African community. Central to the author's analysis is a powerful, charismatic Muslim preacher whose mission and methods illustrate the transformative influence of reformist Islam in Africa and its impact on women in particular. How do women experience this influence, and what does it mean to the daily conduct of their lives? Much of the public debate about issues of Islamic morality, propriety, and piety tend to translate into women's deportment, dress, and seclusion or 'moral domesticity,' which, for the Hausa women, includes modesty, obedience, thrift, veiling, and seclusion. An examination of the complex politics of the hijab, bride wealth, and mosque attendance, among other issues, reveals the different strategies that women employ to safeguard their autonomy and defend their interests in the face of their rapidly changing world. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -Choice

Ancient history · Archaeology · Geography · Islam · Sociology · African Studies and Geopolitics · Gender Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Religion and Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nigeria · Africa · Dogondoutchi · Dogondoutchi (Niger) · Muslim women · Niger · Social conditions · Women