Review by Choice Review
These essays were selected from papers originally presented at a 1992 gender relations workshop at the Australian National University. They concentrate on indigenous patterns of pregnancy, birthing, and nurturing, and on ways in which these patterns of mothering have been transformed by politics of the colonial period and modern scientific medicine. An important theme in this region is that of adoption, i.e., assuming nurturing responsibilities without experiencing pregnancy. In the process of reviewing and critiquing colonial and postcolonial influences, contributors, all from Australian and New Zealand universities, evaluate the effects of missionary activities as well as present feminist approaches and interpretations. They report on fieldwork in south India, Malaya, Bangladesh, Fiji and Vanuatu (previously New Hebrides), Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. They show that women serve as the heartland of tradition but that select groups of women are targeted as emissaries of reform and modernity. Undergraduates and above. B. M. du Toit University of Florida
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
