Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Women, State, and Ideology examines the underlying ideologies that make female subordination a universal experience. It analyzes government policies directed at women in African and Asian countries. It argues, too, that ideologies which oppress women are removed only by prolonged struggle and then only after fundamental political and social changes have been made.
The authors evaluate different policies aimed at women in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Iran, Malaysia, China, India, Israel, and Vietnam. Despite different political, social, and economic conditions, there exists a general assumption that women should be responsible for domestic duties. Drawing on new research, the authors indicate that these different national contexts require separate emphases and tactics. One common factor is clear, however that despite many setbacks, a growing consciousness exists among women, as well as increased opposition to oppressive measures."
Synopsis
Haleh Afshar is Lecturer in Economics at the University of Bradford and is currently on assignment at the Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
Table of Contents
Women and the state in Nigeria / Carolyne Dennis -- Women in Zimbabwe / Susie M. Jacobs and Tracey Howard -- The state and the regulation of marriage / Penelope A. Roberts -- Women, marriage, and the state in Iran / Haleh Afshar -- Family and state in Malaysian industrialisation / Maila Stivens -- Gender and population in the People's Republic of China / Delia Davin -- Some state responses to male and female need in British India / Jocelyn Kynch -- Contaminating states / Patricia Margaret Jeffery, Roger Jeffery, and Andrew Lyon -- Women and handicraft production in North India / Ann Weston -- Front and rear, the sexual division of labour in the Israeli Army / Nira Yuval-Davis -- Controlling women's access to political power / Carole Wolkowitz -- State, culture, and gender / Christine Pelzer-White.