Once Intrepid Warriors: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Cultural Politics of Maasai Development

by Dorothy L. Hodgson

Overview

"Once Intrepid Warriors advances a brilliantly persuasive critique of development among the Maasai. . . . This historical ethnography is a tour de force, counter-balancing the analysis of cultural, political, and socio-economic transformation over the longue duree with intimate and memorable portraits of representative individuals." —Richard Werbner

"In a series of chapters on the interrelationships of ethnicity, gender, and 'modernity,' Hodgson concludes that it is not the Maasai who have remained static, but rather the external images of them." —Choice

". . . meticulous and well-documented . . . a valuable resource. . . ." —Africa

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253214515
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	04/06/2004
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dorothy L. Hodgson teaches anthropology at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, where she is affiliated with the Center for African Studies and the Women's Studies Department.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Seeing Maasai
1. Gender, Generation, and Ethnicity: Being Maasai Men and Women
Maasai Portrait 1: Koko
2. Modernist Orders: Colonialism and the Production of Marginality
Maasai Portrait 2: Wanga
3. Why Are You in Such a Hurry? Development and Decolonization
Maasai Portrait 3: Thomas
4. Politics of the Postcolonial Periphery: Gender, Ethnicity, and Citizenship
Maasai Portrait 4: Edward Moringe Sokoine
5. Poverty and Progress: Gender, Ethnicity, and Pastoralist Development
Maasai Portrait 5: Mary
6. The Gendered Contradictions of Modernity and Marginality
Conclusion: Maasai Pasts, Maasai Futures
Epilogue: The Last of the Maasai?

What People are Saying About This

Elliot M. Fratkin

. . . the first and only book that systematically addresses Maasai culture and development from multiple perspectives of cultural identity and ethnicity, issues of land, labor, education, and, not least, changing perspectives and understanding of gender and gender relations in the society . . . rich both in historical detail and ethnographic substance.

Jane Parpart

Hodgson presents us with a complex, interactive picture of change over time, one dominated neither by the Maasai nor the state and development apparatus. . . . The Maasai emerge not simply as the 'intrepid warriors' envisioned by government and development officials, or even sometimes by themselves, but as active agents in the construction of their own history. This history, however, is often contradictory, contested, and varied.

Editorial Reviews

"[T]his is a well-researched and innovative account. The 'intrepid women' of the French army have found their historian.42 2012"—European History Quarterly

From the Publisher

[T]his is a well-researched and innovative account. The 'intrepid women' of the French army have found their historian.42 2012

European History Quarterly