Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Politics, and Culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey

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Wives of the Leopard explores power and culture in a pre colonial West African state whose army of women and practice of human sacrifice earned it notoriety in the racist imagination of late nineteenth century Europe and America Tracing two hundred years of the history of Dahomey up to the French colonial conquest in 1894, the book follows change in two central institutions One was the monarchy, the coalitions of men and women who seized and wielded power in the name of the king The second was the palace, a household of several thousand wives of the king who supported and managed state functions.Looking at Dahomey against the backdrop of the Atlantic slave trade and the growth of European imperialism, Edan G Bay reaches for a distinctly Dahomean perspective as she weaves together evidence drawn from travelers memoirs and local oral accounts, from the religious practices of vodun, and from ethnographic studies of the twentieth century Wives of the Leopard thoroughly integrates gender into the political analysis of state systems, effectively creating a social history of power More broadly, it argues that women as a whole and men of the lower classes were gradually squeezed out of access to power as economic resources contracted with the decline of the slave trade in the nineteenth century In these and other ways, the book provides an accessible portrait of Dahomey s complex and fascinating culture without exoticizing it. Best Download [ Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Politics, and Culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey ] author [ Edna G. Bay ] – kino-fada.fr , , , , , , , ,, 90 , , , , , , , , , , ,, 90 , , , , ,, , , 19 , , 18 19 , , 1890, , , , , , , , , , ,, , ,A wonderful history of the African Kingdom of Dahomey using the role of women and showing how their roles reflected the prosperity, ascension and decline of the kingdom It s a case study of a society not able to adjust to the changing world and the reasons why it couldn t and wouldn t.It ends with the story of Gbehanzin Behanzin to the West , his ascent to the top of a kingdom already breaking apart, and his forced departure from it.As a descendant of one of the millions exported from the A wonderful history of the African Kingdom of Dahomey using the role of women and showing how their roles reflected the prosperity, ascension and decline of the kingdom It s a case study of a society not able to adjust to the changing world and the reasons why it couldn t and wouldn t.It ends with the story of Gbehanzin Behanzin to the West , his ascent to the top of a kingdom already breaking apart, and his forced departure from it.As a descendant of one of the millions exported from the Slave Coast it was a difficult read but I couldn t pu...While the book provided a comprehensive history of Dahomey, I wish there d beeninformation about women, given the book s title It seemed to meof a historical book rather than an in depth analysis of the role of gender There was also one phrase that irked me on page 279, Bay writes, Sadly, in the years leading up to the French conquest, Dahomey contributed to these racist stereotypes Excuse me, as the victimized group, they can t contribute to stereotypes because, as pointed While the book provided a comprehensive history of Dahomey, I wish there d beeninformation about women, given the book s title It seemed to meof a historical book rather than an in depth analysis of the role of gender There was also one phrase that irked me on page 279, Bay writes, Sadly, in the years leading up to the French conquest, Dahomey con...Just a delight really nuanced and well written history, with a great deal of complexity Definitely recommended.

Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Politics, and Culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey
  • English
  • 21 March 2019
  • Paperback
  • 392 pages
  • 0813917921
  • Edna G. Bay
  • Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Politics, and Culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey