In the late 1980s, despite the fact that the vast majority of women now had a dual role – in paid work and in the domestic realm – the world of work, the welfare state, and the domestic sphere were all still organized as though women’s place were primarily in the home. Though this contradiction most directly affected women, it had implications for the lives of both sexes, and in a much wider social context. Women’s changing role had paralleled a major restructuring of the economy but the importance of these changes was barely reflected in contemporary political discussions, or in political science or social policy literature. In this title, originally published in 1987, articles from women in Italy, France, Denmark, Norway, the US and Britain bring the issues sharply into focus. Applying fresh perspectives, they widen and enrich the debate. This book marks a powerful contribution to a new and more realistic assessment of women’s dual role in the state and the economy which should be read by all those concerned with the development of women’s issues and with women’s studies.

This book reflects the most current scholarship on states, socioeconomic development, and feminist theory to emerge this decade. Addressed are issues such as the role of state policies and ideologies in defining gender differences, state influence over the boundaries between public and domestic spheres, state control over women's productive and reproductive lives, and the efforts of women to influence state policy. Women, the State, and Development shows that state elites promote male domination as one way of maintaining social order when nation-states are created and strengthened, and that issues defined as male by the sexual division of labor are given priority in state policies that promote security and economic development such as foreign policy, international trade, agricultural development, and resource extraction. It analyzes these policies in terms of their impact on gender relations and also identifies ways in which women have responded.

Offering a wide-ranging selection of case studies, this book evaluates women's political, social and economic involvement in Third World countries. It explores both specific experiences of women as well as common themes such as identity, empowerment and the conflict between tradition and modernity.

The United Nations has called violence against women "the most pervasive, yet least recognized human rights abuse in the world" and there is a long-established history of the systematic victimization of women by the state during times of peace and conflict. This book contributes to the established literature on women, gender and crime and the growing research on state crime and extends the discussion of violence against women to include the role and extent of crime and violence perpetrated by the state. State Crime, Women and Gender examines state-perpetrated violence against women in all its various forms. Drawing on case studies from around the world, patterns of state-perpetrated violence are examined as it relates to women’s victimization, their role as perpetrators, resistors of state violence, as well as their engagement as professionals in the international criminal justice system. From the direct involvement of Condaleeza Rice in the United States-led war on terror, to the women of Egypt’s Arab Spring Uprising, to Afghani poetry as a means to resist state-sanctioned patriarchal control, case examples are used to highlight the pervasive and enduring problem of state-perpetrated violence against women. The exploration of topics that have not previously been addressed in the criminological literature, such as women as perpetrators of state violence and their role as willing consumers who reinforce and replicate the existing state-sanctioned patriarchal status quo, makes State Crime, Women and Gender a must-read for students and scholars engaged in the study of state crime, victimology and feminist criminology.

These essays, by American, Canadian, and East European scholars, provide a comprehensive look at the status of women in Eastern Europe, with particular emphasis on the postwar situation.

A collection of essays about women and welfare in America, this book discusses how welfare programmes affect women and how gender relations have influenced the structure of such programmes. Issues such as race and class are also discussed.

Focusing on how women, peasants and orphans responded to Bolshevk attempts to remake the family, this text reveals how, by 1936, legislation designed to liberate women had given way to increasingly conservative solutions strengthening traditional family values.

Finding Women in the State is a provocative hidden history of socialist state feminists maneuvering behind the scenes at the core of the Chinese Communist Party. These women worked to advance gender and class equality in the early PeopleÕs Republic and fought to transform sexist norms and practices, all while facing fierce opposition from a male-dominated CCP leadership from the Party Central to the local government. Wang Zheng extends this investigation to the cultural realm, showing how feminists within ChinaÕs film industry were working to actively create new cinematic heroines, and how they continued a New Culture anti-patriarchy heritage in socialist film production. This book illuminates not only the different visions of revolutionary transformation but also the dense entanglements among those in the top echelon of the party. Wang discusses the causes for failure of ChinaÕs socialist revolution and raises fundamental questions about male dominance in social movements that aim to pursue social justice and equality. This is the first book engendering the PRC high politics and has important theoretical and methodological implications for scholars and students working in gender studies as well as China studies.

Brand focuses on three countries--Jordan, Tunisia, and Morocco--with special attention to issues such as access to contraception and abortion, labor, pension, criminal legislation, protection against harassment and violence, and the degree of women's participation in government.

Women remain dramatically underrepresented in elective office, including in entry-level political offices. While they enjoy the freedom to stand for office and therefore have an equal legal footing with men, this persistent gender imbalance raises pressing questions about democratic legitimacy, the inclusivity of American politics, and the quality of political representation. The reasons for women's underrepresentation remain the subject of much debate. One explanation--that the United States lacks sufficient openings for political newcomers--has become less compelling in recent years, as states that have adopted term limits have not seen the expected gains in women's office holding. Other accounts about candidate scarcity, gender inequalities in society, and the lingering effects of gendered socialization have some merit; however, these accounts still fail to explain the relatively low numbers. Drawing upon original surveys conducted in 1981 and 2008 by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) of women state legislators across all fifty states, and follow-up interviews after the 2008 survey, the authors find that gender differences in pathways to the legislatures, first evident in 1981, have been surprisingly persistent over time. They find that, while the ambition framework better explains men's decisions to run for office, a relationally embedded model of candidate emergence better captures women's decision-making, with women's decisions more often influenced by the encouragement and support of parties, organizations, and family members. By rethinking the nature of women's representation, this study calls for a reorientation of academic research on women's election to office and provides insight into new strategies for political practitioners concerned about women's political equality.