Shea Butter Republic

Shea Butter Republic
Author: Brenda Chalfin
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2004
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780415944618

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Shea Butter Republic

Shea Butter Republic
Author: Brenda Chalfin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2004-06-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1135944660

Shea butter (butyrospermin parkii) has been produced and sold by rural West African women and circulated on the world market as a raw material for more than a century. Shea butter has been used for cooking, making soap and candles, leatherworking, dying, as a medical and beauty aid, and most significantly, as a substitute for cocoa butter in chocolate production. Now sold in exclusive shops as a high-priced cosmetic and medicinal product, it caters to the desire of cosmopolitan customers worldwide for luxury and exotic self-indulgence. This ethnographic study traces shea from a pre- to post-industrial commodity to provide a deeper understanding of emerging trends in tropical commoditization, consumption, global economic restructuring and rural livelihoods. Also inlcludes seven maps.

Shea Butter Republic

Shea Butter Republic
Author: Brenda Chalfin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2004-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1135944679

This ethnographic study traces shea from a pre- to post-industrial commodity to provide a deeper understanding of emerging trends in tropical commoditization, cosmopolitan consumption, global economic restructuring and rural livelihoods.

Beauty around the World

Beauty around the World
Author: Erin Kenny
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2017-06-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Taking the concept of beauty seriously, this encyclopedia examines how humanity has sought and continues to seek what is "beautiful" in a variety of cultural contexts, giving readers an understanding of how to look at beauty both intellectually and critically. Is beauty ever more than "skin deep"? Arguably yes, considering that the concept of beauty—and the pursuit of it—has shaped cultures worldwide, across every time period, and has even served to change the course of history. Studying beauty practices yields insight into social status, wealth, political ideology, religious doctrine, and gender expectations, including gender nonconformity. A truly interdisciplinary text, Beauty around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia presents an insightful perspective on beauty that draws from philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and feminist studies, giving readers a unique view of world beauty practices. This volume offers information about beauty practices from the past to the present in alphabetical entries that address terms and topics such as "beards," "dreadlocks," "Geisha," "moko tattoos," and "progressive muscularity." Readers will better comprehend how beauty shapes many social interactions in profound ways worldwide, and that the unspoken social agreements that shape ideals of attractiveness and desirability within any given culture can matter very much. The encyclopedia's entries challenge readers to consider the questions "What is beauty?" and "Why does it matter?" A comprehensive bibliography is a valuable resource for further research.

Islam in Africa South of the Sahara

Islam in Africa South of the Sahara
Author: Pade Badru
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 429
Release: 2013-05-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0810884704

Islam in Africa South of the Sahara: Essays in Gender Relations and Political Reform draws together contributions from scholars that focus on changes taking place in the practice of the religion and their effects on the political terrain and civil society. Contributors explore the dramatic changes in gender relations within Islam on the continent, occasioned in part by the events of 9/11 and the response of various Islamic states to growing negative media coverage. These explorations of the dynamics of religious change, reconfigured gender relations, and political reform consider not only the role of state authorities but the impact of ordinary Muslim women who have taken to challenging the surbodinate role assigned to them in Islam. Essays are far-ranging in their scope as the future of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa falls under the microscope, with contributing addressing such topics as the Islamic view of the historic Arab enslavement of Africans and colonialist ventures; studies of gender politics in Gambia, northern Nigeria, and Ghana; surveys of the impact of Sharia law in Nigeria and Sudan; the political role of Islam in Somalia, South Africa, and African diaspora communities. Islam in Africa South of the Sahara is an ideal reader for students and scholars of international politics, comparative theology, race and ethnicity, comparative sociology, African and Islamic studies.

Neoliberal Frontiers

Neoliberal Frontiers
Author: Brenda Chalfin
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2010-07-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0226100626

In Neoliberal Frontiers, Brenda Chalfin presents an ethnographic examination of the day-to-day practices of the officials of Ghana’s Customs Service, exploring the impact of neoliberal restructuring and integration into the global economy on Ghanaian sovereignty. From the revealing vantage point of the Customs office, Chalfin discovers a fascinating inversion of our assumptions about neoliberal transformation: bureaucrats and local functionaries, government offices, checkpoints, and registries are typically held to be the targets of reform, but Chalfin finds that these figures and sites of authority act as the engine for changes in state sovereignty. Ghana has served as a model of reform for the neoliberal establishment, making it an ideal site for Chalfin to explore why the restructuring of a state on the global periphery portends shifts that occur in all corners of the world. At once a foray into international political economy, politics, and political anthropology, Neoliberal Frontiers is an innovative interdisciplinary leap forward for ethnographic writing, as well as an eloquent addition to the literature on postcolonial Africa.

National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World

National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World
Author: National Geographic
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2016
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1426216602

With more than 550 maps and graphics, all completely revised, this atlas provides accurate coverage of the whole world. Introductory sections for each continent are also fully updated and feature stunning images that portray unique physical geography and highlight the sprawling extent of major cities. The flags and country facts at the end of each continental section reflect the latest statistics from national and international sources.

Gender and Forests

Gender and Forests
Author: Carol J. Pierce Colfer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2016-04-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317355660

This enlightening book brings together the work of gender and forestry specialists from various backgrounds and fields of research and action to analyse global gender conditions as related to forests. Using a variety of methods and approaches, they build on a spectrum of theoretical perspectives to bring depth and breadth to the relevant issues and address timely and under-studied themes. Focusing particularly on tropical forests, the book presents both local case studies and global comparative studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as the US and Europe. The studies range from personal histories of elderly American women’s attitudes toward conservation, to a combined qualitative / quantitative international comparative study on REDD+, to a longitudinal examination of oil palm and gender roles over time in Kalimantan. Issues are examined across scales, from the household to the nation state and the global arena; and reach back to the past to inform present and future considerations. The collection will be of relevance to academics, researchers, policy makers and advocates with different levels of familiarity with gender issues in the field of forestry.