Female Genital Cutting: Cultural Conflict in the Global Community (review)

Female genital cutting is an institutionalized cultural practice that has been the source of international conflict for several decades. Although female genital cutting is normative in the communities where it is practiced (mainly in Africa), many outsiders view the practice as barbaric and oppressive to women and have pushed for its eradication. In Female Genital Cutting: Cultural Conflict in the Global Community, Boyle explores the development of an international anti-female genital cutting movement, and nations' and individuals' responses to it. In applying a neoinstitutional theoretical framework, Boyle finds the diffusion of anti-female genital cutting norms to be largely a top-down globalization process driven by international standards that reject the practice on medical and human rights grounds. However, Boyle also provides evidence that the adoption of anti-female genital cutting norms differs across countries and individuals and correlates with their structural locations and local contexts. Boyle uses qualitative and quantitative data at the international, national, and individual levels to demonstrate the complexities and conflict around changing institutionalized cultural practices such as female genital cutting. In doing so, Boyle provides both an in-depth understanding of anti-female genital cutting efforts, and a unique multilevel approach to evaluating global cultural conflict.

Boyle's specific purpose is to use the anti-female genital cutting case as an example of how (1) global norms drive national policies, (2) the structural location of groups affects their actions related to adapting internationally institutionalized norms, and (3) conflict around norms creates space for changing institutions. After describing the development of international norms against female genital cutting, Boyle demonstrates the power of these norms in defining national policies and actions in a many countries. The influence of international norms is also evident in Boyle's analysis at the individual level. She uses demographic and health survey data from six African countries to show how women's attitudes and behaviors, as measured in the mid-1990s, are reflective of their exposure to international ideas. One of the most creative aspects of the book is the chapter on individual resonance with international frames. Boyle finds that many women in female genital cutting-practicing countries not only state that they are against the practice but also provide a medical or human rights explanation for rejecting it, mirroring the reasoning articulated by the international community.

Although national policies and women's attitudes and behaviors suggest an increasing conformity around international norms that reject female genital cutting, Boyle uses several chapters of her book to highlight how the social contexts surrounding national governments and individuals condition their acceptance of international anti-female genital cutting norms. At the national level, Boyle uses case studies of Egypt, Tanzania, and the U.S. to demonstrate how a country's world system position, national resources, and prevalence of female genital cutting affect the meaning of its anti-female genital cutting policies. Although the use of these countries' experiences is illustrative, a quantitative analysis that includes additional countries would provide more concrete evidence of how national situations interact with international norms in defining state actions. At the individual level, Boyle effectively uses multilevel modeling and survey data to show how women's personal experiences and national, regional, and local contexts affect their views of female genital cutting and reasons for rejecting the practice.

Boyle's final objective is to provide evidence that conflict between institutionalized norms creates space for change. At the international level, this occurred when national sovereignty, the international norm that allows countries to determine their own cultural matters, was challenged by the universal human rights perspective. At the national level, Boyle shows that conflict occurred when female genital cutting was particularly salient to the country and when the country had sufficient international power and national resources to resist international pressure. Finally, Boyle maintains that institutional conflict is most apparent at the individual level where local contexts (such as religion) provide meaning systems alternative to international norms. Although Boyle effectively demonstrates the presence of...