Counter-narratives of Muslim American Women
Examining the prevalence of Islamophobia in education, this week's review "underscores the need for MusCrit" as a subset of critical race theory
Posted on in Review of the Week
Posted on June 7, 2021 in Review of the Week
Lara, Ana-Mauríne. SUNY Press, 2020
190p bibl index, 9781438481098 $95.00, 9781438481104 $32.95, 9781438481111
This creative study seeks to decolonize the body. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork from the Dominican Republic, it confronts racial constructs and the constraints of sexual expression in the Caribbean. Lara (Univ. of Oregon) structures the text as an Afro-Caribbean spiritual celebration of self-emancipation that engages with anthropological literature and personal experiences. The book is itself a sacred offering to the ancestral, spiritual, and physical beings that have contested the oppressive legacies of colonialism, racism, and homophobia. The author advocates for systemic change that will end the anguish of centuries of colonial and imperial doctrine that have imprisoned the imaginations and desires of Caribbean peoples. It is a phenomenological study written in poetic, provocative, powerful prose. The author critiques Christianity and capitalism to challenge the colonial construct of the state. The hierarchical structures created by the state generate social inequities and mental confines that prohibit the true expression of queer freedom and Black sovereignty. Afro-Caribbean spirituality offers a roadmap to liberation. This reflexive, theoretically engaging study is a must read for scholars of the African diaspora and specialists in gender and sexuality studies, especially in the Caribbean.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels.
Reviewer: F. H. Smith, North Carolina A & T State University
Interdisciplinary Subjects: African and African American Studies , Women’s & Gender Studies , Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Studies
Subject: Social & Behavioral Sciences – Anthropology
Choice Issue: Aug 2021
Examining the prevalence of Islamophobia in education, this week's review "underscores the need for MusCrit" as a subset of critical race theory
Posted on in Review of the Week
Catch the Oscars last night? This week's review analyzes how aging women are depicted in British cinema.
Posted on in Review of the Week
Happy Women's History Month! This week's review analyzes South and Southeast Asian women's fiction, uncovering the "relationships between the human, animal, and nonhuman in the face of eco-disasters and climate crises."
Posted on in Review of the Week
Focusing on the lived experiences of Black faculty, this week's review examines what it means to be Black in higher education.
Posted on in Review of the Week