Persons and Powers of Women in Diverse Cultures

Mrs Shirley Ardener Centre for Cross-Cultural Research on Women,University of Oxford

• Contents: S. Ardener, Persons and Powers of Women: An Introduction - J. Gladstone, Audrey I. Richards (1899-1984): Africanist, Humanist - C. Berndt and E.M.Chilver, Phyllis Kaberry (1910-1977): Fieldworker among Friends - E. Croll, Barbara E. Ward (1919-1983): Sex Roles and Conscious Models - P. Caplan, Engendering Knowledge: The Politics of Ethnography - J. La Fontaine, The Persons of Women - E.M. Chilver, Women Cultivators, Cows and Cash Crops in Cameroon - C. Ifeka, The Mystical and Political Powers of Queen Mothers, Kings and Commoners - A. Wong, Sex Roles, Lifecycle Stages, Social Networks and Community Development in Singapore - C. Humphrey, Women and Ideology in Hierarchical Societies in East Asia

'Persons and Powers of Women' has three principle objectives: first, a biographical tribute to three great anthropologists, Audrey Richards, Phyllis Kaberry and Barbara Ward; secondly, a comprehensive bibliography of these women's written works; and thirdly, a celebration of these women with a series of six essays devoted to the theoretical and field work which they pioneered. Each of these objectives was extraordinarily well done. Moreover, the six papers actually go beyond the achievements of Richards, Kaberry and Ward by using their works as a stepping stone to new perspectives in anthropological study ... its readership [should] include all those interested in gender and feminist studies.'African Studies'...this book is a record of good scholarship, and it does honor the memory of those remarkable anthropologists, Audrey Richards, Phyllis Kaberry, and Barbara Ward.'American Ethnologist'These essays should be read by anyone interested in contemporary Africa, Oceania, New