One of the widely acknowledged consequences of the economic reforms in China over the past four decades has been widened social-gender gap and hence increased gender inequalities. In recent years, there is a rising concern of inequality in China and a mounting intellectual reflection and critique of the growth-focused development path China has followed so far. This collection can be seen as a part of this critique, but the focus is on gender and various forms of inequality pertaining to gender and gender relations. The book shows how various gender inequality issues are approached and analysed in the location of China by Chinese gender/social science scholars and how studies of gender inequality constitutes an astute critique of the neo-liberal capitalist development in China. The book brings forth a distinctive gender perspective to the Chinese intellectual and political analysis of social inequality and a Chinese perspective to the bulks of international scholarship on gender inequality in China.

One of the widely acknowledged consequences of the economic reforms in China over the past four decades has been widened social-gender gap and hence increased gender inequalities. In recent years, there is a rising concern of inequality in China and a mounting intellectual reflection and critique of the growth-focused development path China has followed so far. This collection can be seen as a part of this critique, but the focus is on gender and various forms of inequality pertaining to gender and gender relations. The book shows how various gender inequality issues are approached and analysed in the location of China by Chinese gender/social science scholars and how studies of gender inequality constitutes an astute critique of the neo-liberal capitalist development in China. The book brings forth a distinctive gender perspective to the Chinese intellectual and political analysis of social inequality and a Chinese perspective to the bulks of international scholarship on gender inequality in China.

“A very valuable and much needed book on a central element in the processes of social change: the construction and reconstruction of social norms as they move between global and local levels.” —Naila Kabeer, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK “This book explores how gender equality norms are ever-evolving and argues convincingly that we cannot take their effectiveness, nor their acceptance, for granted.” —Judith Kelley, Duke Sanford School of Public Policy, USA “In an era of increasing resistance to gender equality, this is a much-needed volume that attends to how gender equality norms are interpreted and contested in governance organisations ranging from the UN and the EU to Mercosur and women’s NGOs in India and Uganda.” —Ann Towns, University of Gothenburg, Sweden This edited collection provides a new theoretical approach to the study of how global norms influence social processes. It analyses the institutional and highly political processes whereby actors – be they local, national, regional or trans-national – engage with global norms of gender equality. The editors bring together key thinkers who emphasise how context and history effect norm engagement and how particular groups and actors tend to be marginalised from discussions of global norms. By proposing a situated approach that underlines the contingent, multi-level processes that occur when actors interpret, use, manipulate, bend, or betray norms, notions of norm diffusion are fundamentally challenged. This book makes a further crucial contribution to the study of norms and gender equality in global governance by analysing very different empirical contexts, from New Delhi and St. Petersburg to the Organisation of American States, and from Kampala and New York to the European Union.

Revisiting Gender Training is concerned with the thinking behind gender education and training rather than with day to day practice. It explores the explicit and implicit assumptions in gender training about the nature of knowledge (epistemology), about how knowledge is imparted (pedagogy), and about knowing (cognition). The book brings together case studies at country, regional and global level to look critically behind the practice. Jashodhara Dasgupta examines whether the primarily 'political' nature of the feminist project has been unobtrusively dismantled by the language and tools of development in India, including the use of gender training. Josephine Ahikire analyses gender training in Uganda, post-Beijing Conference, and the ways in which it has changed over time. She focuses on the point where international imperatives meet the national context, and considers the impact of gender training on the feminist intellectual and political project. Lina Abou-Habib considers gender training in the Machreq/Maghreb region in the Middle East and North Africa. She highlights the transformatory potential of such training, and the ways in which it has dealt with patriarchal mindsets and institutions. Claudy Vouhe discusses the conditions and factors that limit or strengthen the impact of gender training. This contribution is the output from an international conference on gender training in the French-speaking world in 2006. Shamim Meer explores the power of rights-based development approaches for advancing ideas and action for social change, including change to unequal gender power relations. Starting with experience in South Africa, she teases out the particular understandings of rights and agency, and reflects on a methodology for linking reflection and action through starting from the personal. Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay and Franz Wong introduce the book and establish its focus on gender training and feminist epistemology, its tone of critical reflection, and its aim of looking beneath the surface of much of the day to day 'gender' activity and considering the assumptions made about of the links that exist between knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, and practice. An extensive and up-to-date annotated bibliography of international resources (print and online) makes this a truly global sourcebook on the topic. Book jacket.

Examines the changing role of women and men in shaping American life in education, work, and public and private life. Coverage includes the status of girls and boys in public education; the most interesting stories on the dynamics of gender on the state and national level; the status of women and gender equality in the corporate realm; power of images; and the dynamics of home life.

Does biology help explain why women, on average, earn less money than men? Is there any evolutionary basis for the scarcity of female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies? According to Kingsley Browne, the answer may be yes. Biology at Work brings an evolutionary perspective to bear on issues of women in the workplace: the "glass ceiling," the "gender gap" in pay, sexual harassment, and occupational segregation. While acknowledging the role of discrimination and sexist socialization, Browne suggests that until we factor real biological differences between men and women into the equation, the explanation remains incomplete. Browne looks at behavioral differences between men and women as products of different evolutionary pressures facing them throughout human history. Womens biological investment in their offspring has led them to be on average more nurturing and risk averse, and to value relationships over competition. Men have been biologically rewarded, over human history, for displays of strength and skill, risk taking, and status acquisition. These behavioral differences have numerous workplace consequences. Not surprisingly, sex differences in the drive for status lead to sex differences in the achievement of status. Browne argues that decision makers should recognize that policies based on the assumption of a single androgynous human nature are unlikely to be successful. Simply removing barriers to inequality will not achieve equality, as women and men typically value different things in the workplace and will make different workplace choices based on their different preferences. Rather than simply putting forward the "nature" side of the debate, Browne suggests that dichotomies such as nature/nurture have impeded our understanding of the origins of human behavior. Through evolutionary biology we can understand not only how natural selection has created predispositions toward certain types of behavior but also how the social environment interacts with these predispositions to produce observed behavioral patterns.

Two decades ago, V. Spike Peterson's Gendered States asked what difference gender makes in international relations and the construction of the sovereign state system. This book connects the earlier debates of Peterson's book with the gendered state today, one that exists within a globalized and increasingly securitized world. Bringing together an international group of contributors from the Global South, United States, Europe, and Australia, this volume answers three overarching questions. First, it answers whether the concept of a "gendered state" is generic or if some states are particularly gendered in their identities and interests, and with what implications for the type of citizenship, society, and international security. Second, it looks at the continued theoretical significance of the gendered state for current IR scholarship. And, finally, it explains to what extent postcolonial states are distinctive from metropolitan states with regard to gender. Including scholars from International Relations, Postcolonial Studies, and Development Studies, this volume collectively theorizes the modern state and its intricate relationship to security, identity politics, and gender. With a preface by V. Spike Peterson, this book aims to connect the earlier debates of Peterson's book with the gendered state today, one that exists within a globalized and increasingly securitized world. Bringing together an international group of contributors from the Global South, United States, Europe, and Australia, this volume will answer three overarching questions. First, it will answer whether the concept of a "gendered state" is generic or if some states are particularly gendered in their identities and interests, and with what implications for the type of citizenship, society, and international security. Second, it will look at the continued theoretical significance of the gendered state for current IR scholarship. And, finally, it will explain to what extent postcolonial states are distinctive from metropolitan states with regard to gender. Including scholars from International Relations, Postcolonial Studies, and Development Studies, this volume collectively theorizes the modern state and its intricate relationship to security, identity politics, and gender.

Using country case studies from Latin America and Asia, this edited volume explores the effects of various development strategies and associated macroeconomic policies on women's well-being and progress towards gender equality.

Internationally, there is growing awareness that the target of Education for All by 2015 will not be met unless more strident efforts are made to improve access for marginalized, hard-to-reach children (most often girls). For almost four decades gender equality in education has been one of the key global concerns and as a result various organizations at national and international levels along with governments have initiated programs focusing on achieving gender equality, women’s empowerment and improving girls’ access to education. By focusing on access alone (i.e. gender parity) we may not understand how education can be used to achieve empowerment and influence cultural practices that are gender insensitive. In this volume we attempt to call into question the content of gender equality as simple parity and in doing so we reflect upon the following questions: • Do the global (macro) discourses on gender equality in education lead to a focus on numbers only or to more profound sustainable changes at the national (meso) level and the school (micro) level? • To what extent have national policies been adjusted to reflect the global discourses on gender equality? • Are schools/classrooms (micro) expected to adjust to these global discourses and if so in what ways has this happened? • What are the challenges of providing access to good quality education for girls in both countries? • Is there a dichotomy between the schools/classrooms on the one hand and the community on the other in terms of gender equality/equity? • To what extent is gender equality/equity imposed upon schools and communities and does it take into account the cultural practices in traditional communities? Key words: Gender equality, education, Global vs. local concerns 3 selling points: • The volume highlights that although research has shown how global educational policies homogenize national educational policies and are therefore playing what can be termed a neo-colonial role in identifying pivotal themes and topics in education across the world such as gender equality, literacy and quality education in local contexts, they are often steeped in a Western logic which is not always culturally relevant or conducive. Making global recommendations for education across cultures and places is thus not always unproblematic. • The volume highlights that a push for girls’ schooling must navigate wisely in sensitive terrain where complex contextual aspects must be understood and taken into account. Girls’ attendance and retention in school are important first steps in the struggle for epistemic access, but must be followed by serious deliberations about what kind of school and what kind of knowledge in the schools is appropriate, and about equality and equity. • The volume attempts to understand how the global gender goals in education affect both local policies and local practice and in doing so it attempts to question the simple focus on access only.