More than half of the world's farmers are women. They are the majority of the poor, the uneducated and are the first to suffer from drought and famine. Yet their subordination is reinforced by well-meaning development policies that perpetuate social inequalities. During the 1975-85 United Nations Decade for the Advancement of Women their position actually worsened. This book analyses three decades of policies towards Third World women. Focusing on global economic and political crises - debt, famine, militarization, fundamentalism - the authors show how women's moves to organize effective strategies for basic survival are central to an understanding of the development process.

First published earlier in 1990 by Mansell Publishing, London. Sourcebook contains some 1,000 entries covering a range of topics relevant to women's studies. The coverage is worldwide, with all major women-centered English-language reference works, both monographic and serial, included. The material covers the decade from 1978 to 1988, with a small number of entries from 1989. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR