Reasking the Woman Question at Divorce

Bryan first explores the disconnect between the feminist goal of equality for women and women\u27s experience at divorce. Divorce continues to devastate women\u27s economic prospects, frequently deprives them of their children, and sometimes compromises their physical safety. Many feminists have proposed changes to existing law and procedure that offer to protect women\u27s interests in their children, in marital assets, and in their physical safety. Yet theoretical and strategical rifts between feminists continue to compromise their political ability to promote women\u27s interests in divorce. Bryan urges feminists to abandon these differences and return to the basic woman question by supporting legal changes that respond to the voices of divorced women. Even if feminists unite around a divorce agenda, however, external factors provide formidable obstacles. If feminists lobby male-dominated state legislatures for reforms favorable to women, they can expect legislators to resist reforms contrary to their own interests. If feminists litigate and/or appeal cases that present the opportunity to create precedent favorable to women, they face judges biased against women. While Bryan recognizes the danger of such a proposal, she urges feminists to develop a political agenda focused more on the interests of children than on the equality of women. She notes that women, as caretakers of most divorced children, would benefit from such reforms. She justifies this approach by arguing that male legislators might find such an agenda less threatening and, perhaps, more morally and socially compelling than an agenda based on equality between men and women. To confront judicial bias, Bryan recommends that only committed and educated judges should preside over divorce cases. She concludes with a call to all feminists to recognize the importance of divorce issues to women and to mobilize as effectively as they have on other women\u27s issues

Book Review: Limits to Decolonization: Indigeneity, Territory, and Hydrocarbon Politics in the Bolivian Chaco

This book review symposium critically evaluates Penelope Anthias’ recent text Limits to Decolonization: Indigeneity, Territory, and Hydrocarbon Politics in the Bolivian Chaco (Cornell University Press 2018). Through deep ethnographic attention, Anthias’ text evaluates Indigenous struggles for territory in the context of “post-neoliberal” Bolivia under the Evo Morales administration, showing the variegated and nuanced politics of autonomy in an era of hydrocarbon extraction and increasingly contradictory state-Indigenous relations. The text examines the “limits” of rights and state-led territorial titling processes to radically challenge the racialized extractive geographies that shape the Bolivian Chaco region. In so doing, Anthias’ ethnography provides a rich analysis of how Guaraní Indigenous peoples are reshaping their relations with non-Indigenous landowners and the hydrocarbon industry to advance new forms of territorial autonomy and self-determination with significant ramifications on Indigenous studies in Latin America. This book review symposium draws from a session at the 2019 American Association of Geographers Conference, featuring two leading geographers who share their critical readings of Limits to Decolonization with a conclusion by Anthias that responds to the written reviews

Spatial distribution of the chromosomal forms of anopheles gambiae in Mali

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maps of the distribution of malaria vectors are useful tools for stratification of malaria risk and for selective vector control strategies. Although the distribution of members of the <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>complex is well documented in Africa, a continuous map of the spatial distribution of the chromosomal forms of <it>An. gambiae s.s. </it>is not yet available at country level to support control efforts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Bayesian geostatistical methods were used to produce continuous maps of the spatial distribution of the chromosomal forms of <it>An. gambiae s.s</it>. (Mopti, Bamako, Savanna and their hybrids/recombinants) based on their relative frequencies in relation to climatic and environmental factors in Mali.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The maps clearly show that each chromosomal form favours a particular defined eco-climatic zone. The Mopti form prefers the dryer northern Savanna and Sahel and the flooded/irrigated areas of the inner delta of the Niger River. The Savanna form favours the Sudan savanna areas, particularly the South and South-Eastern parts of the country (Kayes and Sikasso regions). The Bamako form has a strong preference for specific environmental conditions and it is confined to the Sudan savanna areas around urban Bamako and the Western part of Sikasso region. The hybrids/recombinants favour the Western part of the country (Kayes region) bordering the Republic of Guinea Conakry.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The maps provide valuable information for selective vector control in Mali (insecticide resistance management) and may serve as a decision support tool for the basis for future malaria control strategies including genetically manipulated mosquitoes.</p