Veteran journalist Louise Williams shatters the myth of the submissive Asian woman of Western lore with her vivid portraits of politicians, call girls and mistresses, revolutionary heroines, laborers, and business magnates. Williams skillfully draws out the stories of extraordinary individuals ranging from Benazir Bhutto, Corazon Aquino, and Aung San Suu Kyi to the one-time Viet Cong commando and the Jakarta factory girl.

Women in Asia: Tradition, Modernity and Globalisation surveys the transformation in the status of women since 1970 in a diverse range of nations: Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, India, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Burma. Within these 13 national case studies the book presents new arguments about being women, being Asian and being modern in contemporary Asia. Recent social changes in women's place in society are untangled in recognition that not all change is 'progress' and that not all 'modernity' enhances women's status. The authors suggest that the improvements in women's status within the Asian region vary dramatically according to the manner in which women interact with the particular economic and ideological forces in each nation. Each contributor has focussed on a particular country in their area of expertise. They present innovative arguments relating to the problem of 'being women' in Asia during a period of dramatic social and political changes. Each national case study explores key social and economic markers of women's status such as employment rates, wage differentials, literacy rates and participation in politics or business. The effects of population control programs, legislation on domestic violence and female infanticide, and women's role in the family and the workforce are also discussed. The book poses questions as to how women have negotiated these shifts and in the process created a 'modern' Asian woman. Specialists from a variety of disciplines including history, anthropology, sociology, demography, gender studies and psychology grapple with the complexities and ambivalences presented by the multiple faces of the modern Asian woman. Complete with a list of recommended readings and a web-site with links to electronic resources, the book will be of particular interest to undergraduate students of Asian studies and women's studies as well as scholars and postgraduate students interested in comparative women's studies.

In this latest, completely revised Women Travel anthology, Rough Guides present a whole new crew of writers, journalists, travellers, dreamers and escapists, each with a journey to share and a tale to inspire. Featuring more than 80 adventures around the world, Women Travel tells you what it's like to: backpack around India with your mother in tow; hitch up with a shepherd in Spain; set up the ultimate writers' retreat on the icefields of Antarctica; hang out with hippies in the Australian rainforest; be crowned Queen Mother of an African village; have a girls' night out in the Kalahari Desert; and sweat behind the scenes at a Caribbean carnival.

This book aims to contribute to the discourse on women and politics in Southeast Asia. The chapters, covering Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Singapore, analyse the asymmetrical power relationships between the sexes and how power differentials between men and women play out in the realm of politics are a reflection of the power contestations women face with men in other spheres of everyday life. Each chapter seeks to ask a different question in terms of where women viz. men stand in the political landscape of their countries, in an effort to answer the question of Where are the women in the gender trope in Asian politics. While the chapters are primarily empirical as they delve into the challenges, contradictions and conflicts Southeast Asian women encounter, the main assertion is that womens struggles in the realm of politics are a result of having to operate within power structures created principally by men, thereby producing barriers for women to enter politics, on the one hand, and to increase their numbers and widen their sphere of influence, on the other. Recognizing that Asian politics is dominated by men, the question of how women have negotiated a value system that is inherently male-centred and male-controlled is also discussed. The implicit narrative demonstrated in this book is that the political arena should not be considered in isolation from other arenas but instead is essentially a mirror of other arenas whether the home, workplace, nation, and/or global spaces each marked by power contestations between men and women and having a spill-over effect on the other, as well as shaping womens experiences in the political realm.

The ability of a small elite of highly educated, upper-class Asian women to obtain the highest political positions in their country is unmatched elsewhere in the world and deserves study. But there is a marked lack of relevant research as well as of comprehensive and user-friendly texts. Aiming to fill the gap is this timely and important study of the various obstacles and opportunities for women's political participation and representation in Asia.