Political Worlds of Women: Activism, Advocacy, and Governance in the Twenty-First Century

by Mary Hawkesworth

Overview

Political Worlds of Women provides a comprehensive overview of women's political activism, comparing formal and informal channels of power from official institutions of state to grassroots mobilizations and Internet campaigns. Illuminating the politics of identity enmeshed in local, national, and global gender orders, this book explores women's creation of new political spaces and innovative political strategies to secure full citizenship and equal access to political power. Incorporating case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, Mary Hawkesworth analyzes critical issues such as immigration and citizenship, the politics of representation, sexual regulation, and gender mainstreaming in order to examine how women mobilize in this era of globalization. Political Worlds of Women deepens understandings of national and global citizenship and presents the formidable challenges facing racial and gender justice in the contemporary world. It is an essential resource for students and scholars of women's studies and gender politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813344959
Publisher:	Westview Press
Publication date:	02/28/2012
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	450
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

 

Mary Hawkesworth is professor of political science and women’s and gender studies at Rutgers University. She is the author of numerous journal articles and published works, including Globalization and Feminist Activism and Feminist Inquiry; coauthor of Women, Democracy and Globalization in North America; and editor of many books, including War and Terror: Feminist Perspectives. She is also the editor of Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.

Table of Contents

Political Worlds of Women: Introduction Strategies of Political Analysis Comparative Assessment Multilevel Analysis Feminist Theorizing in Context Tracing Historical Change Expanding Political Frames From Individual and Institutional Analysis to Structures of Oppression Chapter Overview I. Political Leadership, Gendered Institutions, and the Politics of Exclusion Women in Executive Offices Women in National Legislatures Explaining Women's Continuing Absence Gendered Institutions and the Politics of Exclusion: Historical Precedents Body Politics in the American and French Revolutions The Consolidation of Separate Spheres Political Parties and the Politics of Exclusion: Contemporary Practices Conclusion II. From Demography to Development: Women's Worlds and the Politics of Knowledge Global Gender Demographics Life Expectancy Gender Ratios Marriage and Divorce Pregnancy and Childbearing Women's Labor Migration War and Displacement Development Modernization Theory as Policy Practice Gender and Gendering in Development Policies Women and Development: Reproduction and Welfare Women in Development: The Virtues of Waged Labor in the Formal Sector Gender and Development Sustainable Development Conclusion III. Producing Raced-Gendered Citizens Liberty, Equality, and Citizenship: Classical Liberal Presumptions The Political Demarcation of Public and Private Spheres Producing Raced-Gendered Citizens Birthright and Its Suspension Miscegenation Laws: Crafting the Complexion of Citizens Immigration The Discursive Production of Raced-Gendered Citizens Welfare Policy Biopower Conclusion IV. From the Politics of Identity to Identity Politics Dispelling Caricatures of Identity Politics The Politics of Identity The Microphysics of Power: Regulating Dress Patrolling National Borders: Marriage and Reproduction Reproducing Servility Sexual Terror as Feminizing Practice Femicide Making Injustice Visible and Actionable Identity Politics Struggling for Visibility Expanding the National Ima

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Political Worlds of Women by Mary Hawkesworth

“Mary Hawkesworth has given us an amazing gift: a truly global exploration of women activists' thinking and strategizing that never slips into bland generalization. Political Worlds of Women shows us how densely rich and locally rooted feminist activist experience has been, from Nigeria to Pakistan, from the US to France. Here is a book we'll all be assigning to our students for years to come.”
—Cynthia Enloe, author of The Curious Feminist

“Broad in its scope, radical in its theory and careful in its scholarship, Political Worlds of Women offers a truly transformative synthesis of global gender politics. Hawkesworth's integrative vision encompasses both the conventional institutional narratives of political science and the most challenging insights of transnational feminism. She brilliantly rethinks familiar concepts like identity politics and embodied citizenship, challenges the divisions among comparative politics, international relations, and theory, and provides a wealth of empirical detail about women's raced-gendered realities around the world. This book offers insights to the seasoned feminist scholar no less than to students in their first course in gender and politics.”
—Myra Marx Ferree, University of Wisconsin-Madison

From the Publisher