Illustrations Tables Acknowledgments Introduction Background to the Study Beyond Ethnicity: Brassage Sahélien Niger: Postcolonial Developments The Period of the 1990s Enactment of Identity in the Urban Landscape From Makaranta/Madarasa Literacy to the Quest for Material Basis of Empowerment The Place of Biography Outline of the Book Part 1: Women, Education, and Epistemological Traditions Chapter 1: When Kuble (Seclusion) Literacy Invades the Electronic Space: Malama A''ishatu Hamani Azrmakoy Dancandu and the Politics of Knowledge Introduction Gendered Spaces: Between Indigenous Tradition and French Colonialism Poetry, Piety, and Identity Transitional "Digraphia": From Hausa Ajami to Arabic Script Malama A''ishatu: Between Womanhood and Motherhood Conclusion Chapter 2: Women and the Political Economy of Education Introduction Women, Orality, and Literacies in Precolonial Niger Women''s Other Educational Skills in the Precolonial Era Education and the French "Civilizing" Mission: Gender Implications Women in Education in the Aftermath of Independence Constraints on Women''s Education in Postcolonial Niger Women in lslamic Schools Grassroots Women''s Responses to the Educational Crisis Part 2: Women, Folklore, and Performative Identities Chapter 3: Politics, Popular Culture, and Women Performing Artists: A Biographical Inquiry in a Francophone-Islamic Context Introduction Habsu Garba and Hybridity: A Critical Discourse Analysis Habsu Garba and Educational Brassage Habsu Garba: Between Modern Education and Indigenous Traditions Brassage and the Urban Landscape In Search of Professional Fulfillment The Becoming of a Performing Artist and Its Cultural Problematics Griotte(s) of Tradition and Modernity: The Struggle for Space Functional Art: Between Orality and Literacy The Tension between Performance and Politics Between Politicla Patronage and Political Representation When Fieldwork Connects the Present with the Past Conclusion Chapter 4: Cinderella Goes to the Sahel Introduction Islam, Folklore, Gender, and Modernity The Story of the Orphan Girl Who Married the Prince of Masar Analysis of the Tale Conclusion Part 3: Women and Overt Political Contestation Chapter 5: Islamisms, the Media, and Women''s Public Discursive Practices Introduction Democratization and the Rise of Political Islam in Niger Democracy, Islam, the Media, and Women''s Activism Plural Islamisms and the Hijab Discourse Women''s Islamic Literacy and the Public Display of Knowledge Women, Islamisms, the Family Code, and the Media in Niger UN Family Planning Campaign and Muslim Women''s Activism in the Media Chapter 6: Through the Eyes of Agaisha: Womanhood, Gender Politics, and the Tuareg Armed Rebellion Historical Background The Political Context of the Uprising Brassage Sahélien : Women Dispel the Myth of Ethnic Purity Tuareg Women Entrapped by Identity Ties Sisterhood during War Conclusion Conclusion Appendix A: Abdoul Salam''s Dance Song Tigyedima : Transregional and Transethnic Sahelian Brassage Appendix B: Biographical Sketch of Dr. Malama Zeinab Sidi Baba Haidara Notes References Index.