@phdthesis{137569,
  author          = {Maggi, Wynne Rae},
  pages           = {310},
  school          = {Emory University},
  title           = {Our Women Are Free: An Ethnotheory of Kalasha Women's Agency (Pakistan)},
  year            = {1998},
  abstract        = {The Kalasha are a community of 3000 people living in three small valleys in the Hindukush in northern Pakistan. The Kalasha differ in many ways from the conservative Muslim communities which surround them-they still practice their indigenous religion, both men and women participate in enthusiastic feasting and dancing, they make and drink wine, women make and wear extraordinary dresses and headdresses and do not veil. When asked what makes the Kalasha different from their neighbors, both men and women often reply, 'Our women are free (homa istrizia azat asan).' The concept that Kalasha women are 'free' (azat) and that they have 'choice' (chit) emerges spontaneously in conversation, explains a wide range of behaviors and motivations, and touches at the heart of individual women's identities and the collective identity of the Kalasha community. This dissertation follows the concepts of Kalasha women's 'freedom' and 'choice' across several diverse arenas, attending especially to the ways in which these concepts are experienced and used by women. (1) I begin by introducing the historical and cultural 'ethnoscape' in which the Kalasha live, and describe the way in which 'women' s freedom' serves as an ethnic marker for the entire Kalasha community. (2) The world of Kalashadesh is divided into places that are onjesta, and those that are pragata. Chapter 2 demonstrates how women actively participate in shaping this invisible, gendered landscape. (3) Chapter 3 argues that Kalasha women's agricultural work underpins (and limits) the agency women claim in other arenas of their lives. (4) Chapter 4 describes how the continually evolving forms of Kalasha women's fashion function as a material symbol of women's agency. (5) Chapter 5 focuses on women's community and culture within their bashali, or menstrual house. (6) Chapter 6 deals with the relationship between marrying and the concept of women's 'freedom.' (7) In conclusion, I weave together common themes from previous chapters through an interpretation of the Howyashi ritual-an annual women's march which every year brings spring back after the seemingly interminable winter. In so doing, I suggest elements of a specifically Kalasha understanding of women's agency.},
  adviser         = {Knauft, Bruce M.},
  bestfn          = {eurasia\maggi_ethnotheory1998_o.pdf},
  besttxt         = {ptxt2\eurasia\maggi_ethnotheory1998_o.txt},
  cfn             = {eurasia\maggi_kalasha1998_o.pdf},
  degree          = {PhD},
  delivered       = {eurasia\maggi_kalasha1998_o.pdf},
  digital_formats = {PDF 13.82Mb image-only PDF},
  fn              = {eurasia\maggi_ethnotheory1998_o.pdf, eurasia\maggi_women-kalasha1998.pdf, eurasia\maggi_ethnotheory1998.pdf, eurasia\maggi_kalasha1998_o.pdf},
  hhtype          = {ethnographic},
  inlg            = {English [eng]},
  isbn            = {9780591989557},
  lgcode          = {Kalasha [kls]},
  macro_area      = {Eurasia},
  source          = {DAI-A 59/08, p. 3057, Feb 1999},
  src             = {hh},
  subject         = {ANTHROPOLOGY, CULTURAL (0326); WOMEN'S STUDIES (0453)},
  umi_id          = {9901862}
}