Gender and Colonialism: A Psychological Analysis of Oppression and Liberation [Hardcover]

Geraldine Moane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1999

Drawing on the writings of diverse authors, including Jean Baker Miller, bell hooks, Mary Daly, Frantz Fanon, Paulo Freire and Ignacio Martin-Baro, as well as on women's experiences, this book provides a new exploration of the feminist phrase "the personal is political." The book describes patterns associated with oppression such as sense of inferiority, self-doubt, fear, anger, shame, problems in relationships and difficulties with direct action. These are linked systematically to social conditions associated with oppression in a "cycle of oppression."

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Highly recommended for upper-division undergraduates through professionals, this book contains an excellent, extensive bibliography that will provide the advanced student or scholar with numerous resources for in-depth analysis of many important contemporary issues.' - G.M. Greenberg, Choice 'Gender and Colonialism provides an excellent overview of liberation psychology from a feminist perspective. In the fashion of a Psychological Bulletin article - extended to book format - it gives a meaningfully organized, well-written, systematic and creative summary of the literature in this research domain.' - T. Teo, Theory and Psychology 'It is a wide-ranging reference text, excellent for teaching purposes.' - M. McDermott, Women's Studies International Forum 'Moane's book makes a significant contribution to a necessary discussion of oppression and liberation in psychology.' - S. Austin, Feminism and Psychology 'Moane's book will appeal to a wide audience ..her book is thus both practical and visionary.' - B. Bayer, Irish Journal of Feminist Studies 'This is an outstanding contribution to the field of liberation psychology. Moane leads the way in integrating psychological, cultural, and political oppression. She links personal emancipation with collective liberation in theroretical and practical ways. I urge all psychologists and individuals committed to promoting well-being with justice to read this book. Like the first edition, this volume is rich in scholarship and inspiration.' - Isaac Prilleltensky, Erwin and Barbara Mautner Chair in Community Well-Being and Dean, School of Education, University of Miami, USA 'In 1999 Geraldine Moane presented a book that was ahead of its time in the sense that it was introducing not only the idea of liberation as it was being developed in psychology, but also showing how it could be applied. Now Moane, in this new version of that work, is including the advances created around the world, during the past ten years. The readers will find an ample revision of the current situation of liberation within psychology, connecting it, as before, with the theory and practice of feminism and with the colonialism critique, whose processes and practices are analysed. Particularly interesting is the way the author generates a praxis (practice producing theory; theory giving way to practice), showing how engaged work with oppressed and excluded groups can be carried out; something especially useful for practitioners and researchers. Thus, the reader will also find in this book not only up-to-date information about the psychology of liberation, but about the levels of change (personal, interpersonal and political), produced in the application of psychology with a liberating orientation, along with a discussion about the transformations happening in both individuals and society.' - Dr Maritza Montero, Universidad Central de Venezuela, South America 'Drawing on community, critical, peace, human rights, and gay-lesbian psychologies as framed by liberation and feminist struggles the author demonstrates the dialectic of personal and structural transformations as they have been envisioned and engaged through political struggle. The Irish experience that grounds this deeply theoretical analysis makes this book a rare and important contribution to liberation and feminist psychologies from the English speaking world.' - Professor M. Brinton Lykes, Boston College Lynch School of Education, USA --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Geraldine Moane is Lecturer in the Department of Psychology and Chair of the Board of Studies for Women's Studies at University College Dublin.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (April 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312220081
• ISBN-13: 978-0312220082
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,709,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars When women really "can't", October 1, 2004

By 

Patricia B. Ross (Wellesley, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gender and Colonialism: A Psychological Analysis of Oppression and Liberation (Hardcover)

The philosophy of freedom and liberation, along with responsibility and accountability requires an atmosphere of freedom and liberation. This has been recognized in every context except the area of women's rights where all too often it is only the social, physical or economic repression that presents as the generalized oppression of women. A much overlooked phenomenon is the psychological oppression caused by ignorance of faith and the possibilities of freedom, typically from a spouse, children, or even family who fail to recognize potential that emerges from educated persons. More rooted in class attitudes than economics, it may well be a profoundly immigrant reaction of comfort at lower levels of the social chain. Examination of attitudes where family success is accompanied by feelings of disbelief are the earmarks of the social syndrome of immobility that helps to make families static, as if they were buried in concrete. Where women become educated but men or children experience discomfort with the added social pressure it brings, women are often "kept down, as if in their place," to prevent outshining the less educated spouse, typically a male of a measureable need for control. Early in the 1970's when women began working outside the home with frequency, many children expressed the same discomfort with their Mother's success, as if resentful that other challenges might take precedence over the relationship between mother and child. Many women start down the road of relative independence, toward success, and find that the road is too difficult, that they receive little encouragement, and often, discouragement to prevent the imbalance of what families see as their proper place. Even without family violence, the perception of roles greatly influences the idealism and often the economic success of women caught in such a dilemma, and it may be the source of underachievement where women might like to.....but really can't because of the family disruption from this psychological oppression. It is still alive and well in America despite women's efforts to shift the dynamics to more promising patterns and methods, a sad carryover from the devastation to women's liberation because of the need of men to patriarchal control.

4.0 out of 5 stars an invaluable liberation resource, August 30, 2001

By 

Craig Chalquist, PhD, author of TERRAPSYCHOLO... (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Gender and Colonialism: A Psychological Analysis of Oppression and Liberation (Hardcover)

This book sums up what writers on patriarchy, racism, and colonialism have said about the experience of oppression, identifies common themes and experiences, diagnoses the psychology involved, and offers--again by way of synthesis--an integrated approach to using liberation psychology to combat oppressive social forces.

When I began the book, the style threatened to put me off. It reads like a professional journal article, and it's difficult at first to feel confidence in a writer who won't write a paragraph without packing it with references. But this reminded me about the entrenched prevalence of male pedanticism in fields of social and psychological endeavor. You are free to write informal and yet scholarly books if you're Kirkpatrick Sale or Joseph Campbell or Isaac Asimov; but, tragically, it's still an uphill battle for women to publish works as comprehensive as this without recourse to a literary style that reeks of hierarchy and nomenclature.

Never mind that. The information packed into this otherwise readable book makes the journey well worthwhile, and its author does a fine job of touching on the key points of each theorist without getting lost in what could be endless elaborations. If you are interested in understanding and fighting the psychology of oppression, patriarchal or otherwise, or are actively working with people who are, then this book belongs on your desk.