Taking land, breaking land
Subtitle: women colonizing the American West and Kenya, 1840-1940
By: Glenda Riley.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Albuquerque
Language: eng
Number of pages: 360
Subjects: Women pioneers -- West (U.S.) -- History -- 19th century.; Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Women pioneers -- Kenya -- History -- 19th century.; Women pioneers -- Kenya -- History -- 20th century.; Frontier and pioneer life -- Kenya.; West (U.S.) -- Social conditions -- 19th century.; West (U.S.) -- Race relations.; Kenya -- Social conditions.; Kenya -- Race relations.; Kenya -- Colonial influence.
Description: "In spite of considerable similarities, the American West and Kenya have rarely been compared or contrasted by historians, until now. This book examines the lives of women colonists on the American and Kenyan frontiers to demonstrate the importance of gender and race in shaping women's frontier experience. Although the West and Kenya are half a world apart, have natives of different races, and developed at different periods, the lives of women colonists show remarkable parallels."

"On both frontiers, white women were active agents of colonial conquest. They believed in the necessity of imposing their culture upon native peoples to bring about "civilization." In turn, the colonized responded by resisting, which meant that women of color seldom allied with white women."

"Riley's discussion of the historical experiences of these two frontiers addresses such crucial issues as women's roles in the continuance of colonization in the U.S. West as opposed to their role in its collapse in Kenya. Although she uses postmodern theoretical concepts of self and other, of resistance and adaptation, her writing will appeal to a broad audience of students, scholars, and general readers."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes index.