This book provides a critical and decolonial analysis of gender and development theory and practice in religious societies through the presentation of a detailed ethnographic study of conjugal violence in Ethiopia. For researchers and practitioners of gender, religion, and development in Africa.
"Romina Istratii's book is a refreshingly comprehensive exploration of the link between religious beliefs and practices and intimate partner violence. Her work is ambitious in scope, impressive in its breadth and depth, and an important contribution to any nuanced understanding of the impact of religion or abusive relationships in a local context. The myriad challenges she experiences in the execution of the research are thoughtfully discussed and her engagement with the relevant academic literature is noteworthy. As a result, her research will be useful to scholars in many fields." -- Nancy Nason-Clark, Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology, University of New Brunswick, Canada
"In this theoretically sophisticated and ethnographically grounded monograph - that focuses on Ethiopia - Romina Istratii questions 'the idea of treating popular gender theories as globally relevant' because they fail to view gender realities as 'nuanced, complex and non-uniform', as well as to consider how the 'non-secular' plays a role in shaping gender subjectivities and relations. This book is an important contribution to a growing field of studies that seeks to problematise the dominant secular Gender and Development paradigm, where it seeks to understand and transform gender relations, to eradicate social ills such as domestic violence, yet is underpinned by Euro-centric assumptions that are rarely addressed." -- Emma Tomalin, Professor in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, Leeds University, UK
"In this theoretically sophisticated and ethnographically grounded monograph - that focuses on Ethiopia - Romina Istratii questions 'the idea of treating popular gender theories as globally relevant' because they fail to view gender realities as 'nuanced, complex and non-uniform', as well as to consider how the 'non-secular' plays a role in shaping gender subjectivities and relations. This book is an important contribution to a growing field of studies that seeks to problematise the dominant secular Gender and Development paradigm, where it seeks to understand and transform gender relations, to eradicate social ills such as domestic violence, yet is underpinned by Euro-centric assumptions that are rarely addressed." -- Emma Tomalin, Professor in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, Leeds University, UK