Work, Social Status, and Gender in Post-Slavery Mauritania [Hardcover]

Although slavery was legally abolished in 1981 in Mauritania, its legacy lives on in the political, economic, and social discrimination against ex-slaves and their descendants. Katherine Ann Wiley examines the shifting roles of Muslim $ar
m+n (ex-slaves and their descendants) women, who provide financial support for their families. Wiley uses economic activity as a lens to examine what makes suitable work for women, their trade practices, and how they understand and assert their social positions, social worth, and personal value in their everyday lives. She finds that while genealogy and social hierarchy contributed to status in the past, women today believe that attributes such as wealth, respect, and distance from slavery help to establish social capital. Wiley shows how the legacy of slavery continues to constrain some women even while many of them draw on neoliberal values to connect through kinship, friendship, and professional associations. This powerful ethnography challenges stereotypical views of Muslim women and demonstrates how they work together to navigate social inequality and bring about social change.

1. This book is unique in the marketplace as the author is one of only a very few researchers doing work in Mauritania. It offers In-depth insight into the lives of female slave descendants in Mauritania and the work that gives their lives meaning, power, and agency.

2. This work looks at the lives of female descendants of slaves and how they negotiate their social and economic positions. It counteracts many of the negative images of Muslim women that have been reported in U.S. and European media. It gives a more nuanced view of a post-slavery society in Northwest Africa and complicates our existing understanding of this institution.

3. This research introduces readers to a part of the world that remains relatively off the U.S.s map but is of strategic interest (given the increasing threat of terrorism in this regionló·