Black feminist anthropology: theory, politics, praxis, and poetics

294 Pages·2001·0.86 MB·English

by  Irma McClaurin

PREFACE i
Black Feminist
Anthropology
ii PREFACE
PREFACE iii
BLACK FEMINIST
ANTHROPOLOGY
Theory, Politics, Praxis,
and Poetics
Ed i t e d b y
I R M A M C L A U R I N
C
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London
iv PREFACE
PHOTO CREDITS
A. Lynn Bolles photo, p. 24: University of Maryland Photographic Services, Uni-
versity of Maryland, College Park
Irma McClaurin photo, p. 49: Ray Carson
Kimberly Eison Simmons photo, p. 77: Courtesy of the author
Carolyn Martin Shaw photo, p. 102: Gena Foucek-Sinopoli
Karla Slocum photo, p. 126: Courtesy of the author
Angela M. Gilliam photo, p. 150: Melissa Schoemaker
Cheryl Mwaria photo, p. 187: Courtesy of the author
Paulla A. Ebron photo, p. 211: Courtesy of the author
Cheryl Rodriguez photo, p. 233: Daphne Thomas
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Black feminist anthropology : theory, politics, praxis, and poetics /
edited by Irma McClaurin
p. cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8135-2925-5 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 0-8135-2926-3
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Feminist anthropology. 2. Afro-American anthroplogists.
3. Ethnology—Philosophy. I. McClaurin, Irma.
GN33.8 .B53 2001
305.42—dc21
00-045686
British Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the British
Library.
This collection copyright © 2001 by Rutgers, The State University
Individual chapters copyright © 2001 in the names of their authors
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University
Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception
to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law.
Manufactured in the United States of America
PREFACE v
This book is dedicated to Black women in the African Diaspora
who survived the brutality of slavery with dignity and continue
to survive the threats of postcolonialism; to our mothers, whose
lives are lessons we are still learning; to the memories of Audre
Lorde and Barbara Christian—beacons of Black feminist light;
to the memory of my dear student Jennifer Drayton; to ourselves,
for continuing the rebellious legacy of Black women; and to our
daughters and sons, who we pray will make a better day.
vi PREFACE
PREFACE vii
Contents
FOREWORD BY JOHNNETTA B. COLE ix
PREFACE xiii
INTRODUCTION: FORGING A THEORY, POLITICS, PRAXIS, AND
POETICS OF BLACK FEMINIST ANTHROPOLOGY 1
IRMA MCCLAURIN
1 SEEKING THE ANCESTORS: FORGING A BLACK FEMINIST
TRADITION IN ANTHROPOLOGY 24
A. LYNN BOLLES
2 THEORIZING A BLACK FEMINIST SELF IN ANTHROPOLOGY:
TOWARD AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACH 49
IRMA MCCLAURIN
3 A PASSION FOR SAMENESS: ENCOUNTERING A BLACK FEMINIST
SELF IN FIELDWORK IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 77
KIMBERLY EISON SIMMONS
4 DISCIPLINING THE BLACK FEMALE BODY: LEARNING FEMINISM
IN AFRICA AND THE UNITED STATES 102
CAROLYN MARTIN SHAW
5 NEGOTIATING IDENTITY AND BLACK FEMINIST POLITICS IN
CARIBBEAN RESEARCH 126
KARLA SLOCUM
6 A BLACK FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE ON THE SEXUAL
COMMODIFICATION OF WOMEN IN THE NEW GLOBAL CULTURE 150
ANGELA M. GILLIAM
vii
vviiiiii PCRONEFTAECNETS
7 BIOMEDICAL ETHICS, GENDER, AND ETHNICITY: IMPLICATIONS
FOR BLACK FEMINIST ANTHROPOLOGY 187
CHERYL MWARIA
8 CONTINGENT STORIES OF ANTHROPOLOGY, RACE,
AND FEMINISM 211
PAULLA A. EBRON
9 A HOMEGIRL GOES HOME: BLACK FEMINISM AND THE LURE
OF NATIVE ANTHROPOLOGY 233
CHERYL RODRIGUEZ
CONTRIBUTORS 259
INDEX 265
PREFACE ix
Foreword
The three words that launch the title of this book have not always
kept company with each other—and in the minds of many both
inside and outside of the academy, they should remain separate.
In this sense, Irma McClaurin and her sister anthropologists have
given us a work that is not only pioneering but also bold.
Why is there such discomfort in joining the terms Black femi-
nist, Black anthropology, feminist anthropology, and all three,
Black feminist anthropology? The answer, of course, is that such
combinations challenge the very idea that there could be more than
one way to do anthropology—ways other than “the way we’ve al-
ways done it.” But anthropology is clearly better off precisely be-
cause in this book, nine Black feminist anthropologists do it
differently.
Any review of the history of the discipline reveals that the over-
whelming majority of those who practiced it (as opposed to those
upon whom it was practiced) were white. And while there have al-
ways been larger numbers of women in anthropology than in many
other disciplines in the academy, it is only since the 1970s that a
substantial body of anthropological scholarship came into existence
that focuses on gender issues.
Black studies in the 1960s and women’s studies in the 1970s
ix