When was half the sky written

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Evil Geniuses. Kurt Andersen. Their top three choices: investing in education, microfinance strategies, and the effective exercise of political will. They also argue passionately for greater investment at the grassroots level, a cause the Global Fund for Women has championed for more than 20 years.

Although it offers valuable insights into the lives of individual women, the book may frustrate readers seeking deeper analyses of the complex factors that contribute to extreme gender discrimination.

To paraphrase Karl Marx, women struggle for their rights not in circumstances of their own choosing but within a broader historic, socioeconomic, and political context.

Yet the reader is not led to reflect on the fact that the experience of Congolese women is inextricably linked to the larger struggles of the DRC. The culture of violence in the Congo has roots that include vicious colonial occupation, the fallout of the Rwandan genocide, ongoing mineral extraction by multinational corporations, and an arms race fueled by the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, who are among the largest suppliers of small arms to various factions.

Instead, the chapter on Islam comes perilously close to reinforcing widely held negative stereotypes about Muslims. However, this plan of direct imperialist action undermines the governments of that area and again perpetuates the stereotype that non-Western countries are all failed states. While the results may have been mildly successful in Cambodia, it is unrealistic to believe that the solution to the issue of slavery in the international sphere is more American-funded schools around the world, as it is not economically, socially, or logistically feasible.

As was mentioned earlier, Kristof is shown entering two brothels, befriending the prostitutes he was shown, and buying them off of their pimps. Kristof and WuDunn then proceed to bring them back to their hometowns and supposedly ensure they have a means of an income. They do this without any regard to the intense psychological scarring, lack of education, potential community exclusion, or physical addiction to illicit substances, all of which would require much more than some money and a ride back home to solve.

In addition to these problems, and the glaring issues of paternalism discussed earlier, there is also the fact that this plan was simply not well thought out. One must have an overly-idealistic mind to think that this would improve the situation of the sex trade in the slightest bit. Not only does this selfishly shift the focus to the Westerners, but it also raises questions about the motivations behind these presumed acts of charity.

However, based on the interactions, homogenization, and solutions proposed in Half the Sky , it is clearly a book which encourages modern-day Western colonialist attitudes towards non-Western countries. Is it better to have more people informed about feminist causes through the colonialist lens? Or would it be preferable for people to not be informed at all because it will strengthen their colonial presuppositions? There are strong arguments for both sides; however, it is evident that regardless of how the book should be received that it is in fact guilty of both discursive colonialism and the colonialist stance.

Kristof, N. Half the sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide. Mohanty, C. Boundary 2, Vol. Narayan, U. In Dislocation cultures: Identities, traditions, and third world feminism.

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The Homogenization of Non-Western People Another way in which Kristof and WuDunn exercise both the Western colonialist stance and discursive colonialism is their homogenization of the people they discuss.