The practice of female genital cutting, sometimes referred to as female circumcision and common in a number of African states, has attracted increasing attention in recent years and mobilized strong international opposition. While it typically produces a visceral response of horror and revulsion in Westerners, the practice is widely regarded in some cultures as essential for proper development into womanhood and is defended by women who have themselves experienced it and who have had the procedure performed on their own daughters. It is also perceived in many Islamic communities as religiously prescribed, although most Islamic clerics do not condone the practice. In this study, sociologist Elizabeth Boyle examines this controversial issue from the perspectives of the international system, governments, and individuals. Drawing on previous scholarship, records of international organizations, demographic surveys, and the popular media, Boyle examines how the issue is perceived and acted upon at international, national, and individual levels. Grounding her work in the sociological theory of neoinstitutionalism, Boyle describes how the choices made by governments and individual women are influenced by the often conflicting principles of individual human rights and sovereign autonomy. She concludes that while globalization may exacerbate such conflicts, it can ultimately lead to social change.

Elizabeth Boyle sets out to explore the cultural foundations for global opposition to female circumcision, the arguments of its defenders, and the attitudes on the part of women in the four African countries in which the controversial procedure is most common. I know of no other treatment of this issue, or indeed any significant issue on the agenda of world affairs, which considers in such depth the global, national, and individual levels of social action and the interconnections among them. Boyle offers much food for thought on this complicated topic and does so with considerable clarity and originality. Her book may very well become a landmark study. -- John Boli, Emory University

About the Author
Elizabeth Heger Boyle is an associate professor of sociology and law at the University of Minnesota.

Reviews
Brilliant and richly informative... This book deserves to become a standard text in courses on cultural globalization and the cultural politics of gender. -- Richard A. Shweder Amici 2003 Boyle uses qualitative and quantitative data at the international, national, and individual levels to demonstrate the complexities and conflict around changing institutionalized cultural practices such as female genital cutting. In doing so, Boyle provides both an in-depth understanding of anti-female genital cutting efforts, and a unique multilevel approach to evaluating global cultural conflict. -- Kammi Schmeer Social Forces Challenging and insightful. It raises many important questions in the perspectives of the international system, governments, and individuals. -- Evelyne Accad H-Gender-MidEast, H-Net Reviews 2004 Boyle has provided the reader with smart, complex, and sophisticated arguments about the contradictions and politics of global culture. I highly recommend it. -- Stanlie M. James African Studies Review 2004 A strong sociological analysis of institutional interaction around a controversial issue. -- Zachary Androus International Journal of Human Rights 2005 A helpful and balanced synthesis of the laws, policies and literature regarding a highly controversial topic, as well as insight into international institutional dynamics. -- Christine J. Walley Modern African Studies 2005



Book Information
ISBN 9780801882630
Author Elizabeth Heger Boyle
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 318g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 15mm