How can we understand gender in the contemporary world? What psychological differences now exist between women and men? How are masculinities and femininities made? And what is the relationship between gender issues and globalizing concerns such as environmental change and economic restructuring? Raewyn Connell, one of the world's leading scholars in the field, is here joined by Rebecca Pearse as they answer these questions and more. Their book provides a readable introduction to modern gender studies, covering empirical research from all parts of the world in addition to theory and politics. As well as introducing the field, Gender provides a powerful contemporary framework for gender analysis with a strong and distinctive global awareness. Highlighting the multi-dimensional character of gender relations, the authors show how to link personal life with large-scale organizational structures and how gender politics changes its form in changing situations. The third edition of this influential and accessible book includes a whole new chapter on ecofeminism, environmental justice and sustainability. It also brings the review of research up to date throughout and explains new debates and emerging gender theories. Gender is engaged scholarship that moves from personal experience to global problems and offers a unique perspective on gender issues today.

Gender Equality in a Global Perspective looks to discuss whether Gender Equality can be adopted as it has been defined in international documents anywhere, or whether it needs to be adapted in a more local context; discuss which factors and perspectives need to be taken into account when adapting Gender Equality to specific contexts; suggest research approaches for studies on whether a universal (Western) concept of Gender Equality fits in certain specific contexts; and finally suggests challenges to the existing interpretation of Gender Equality (e.g., theory of intersectionality); and the development of legal and policy framework. This book is situated within the tradition of comparative gender studies. While most other such books take up and compare various ways of implementing (or not implementing) gender equality, this book studies and compares whether or not (and to what extent) a specific definition of Gender Equality (GE) could be adopted by various nations. Thus, all chapter contributors will engage with the same definition of GE, which will be presented within the book, and discuss the possibilities and constrains related to applying such a definition in their particular national context. The readers will learn about the problems of applying a universal concept of Gender Equality and the possible reasons for and modes of adapting Gender Equality to different contexts. Gender Equality in a Global Perspective looks to maintain a critical and reflexive stance towards the issues raised and will seek to present multiple perspectives and open-ended answers. As such it hopes to contribute to the international discussion of human rights more broadly and Gender Equality specifically. The intended audience is not limited only to but will include policy makers, scholars and students with an interest in Gender issues, Organizational Theory, Political Science, Human Development, Policy Analysis, Globalization and other management sub-disciplines.

This interdisciplinary volume discusses women’s global leadership and women’s rights advancement, identifying gender inequality as a persisting societal challenge and a major barrier to human development. Drawing on intersectionality as an important analytic and methodological tool, the contributors analyse women’s leadership roles across the world, featuring perspectives on the US, Israel, and Brazil, amongst other countries. The book also contributes to the growing field of leadership, presenting cross-cultural examples and case-studies of outstanding women and female leaders, as well as discussing contemporary leadership theories, and examining obstacles to women’s leadership. Global Perspectives on Women’s Leadership and Gender (In)Equality will be an important point of reference for students and scholars across the political sciences, women’s studies, feminist philosophy, business development, and history.

-- Political Science Quarterly

II: WOMEN AND HEALTH

Women, Politics, and Power provides a clear and detailed introduction to women's political participation and representation across a wide range of countries and regions. Using broad statistical overviews and detailed case-study accounts, authors Pamela Paxton and Melanie Hughes document both historical trends and the contemporary state of women's political strength across diverse countries. In addition to describing worldwide themes, the book acknowledges differences among women through attention to intersectionality and heterogeneity among women. Dedicated chapters on six geographic regions highlight the distinct paths women may take to political power in different parts of the world. There is simply no other book that offers such a thorough and multidisciplinary synthesis of research on women's political power around the world.

Faced with an increasingly diverse student population, an expanding field of gender scholarship, and an academic emphasis on multidisciplinarity, social science professors often struggle to address and integrate such a broad array of gender issues in their courses. This book addresses that challenge by increasing students' understandings of gender relations in multiple social fields across time and space. Gender Relations in Global Perspective is truly multidisciplinary. It is partially drawn from the work of sociologists, but articles written by gender scholars from the disciplines of cultural studies, history, political science, geography, and literary theory are also included. The readings examine historically persistent, cross-culturally relevant, and empirically grounded concerns such as men's position in the family and women's relationship to work, media, and the global economy, as well as the gendered problems of violence, sexuality and reproduction, and racism. This book presents an engaging range of comparative and cross-cultural gender analyses from various world regions, including the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa. As the articles are dialogically situated in this text, readers will be able to analyse gender similarities and differences around the globe and learn about the diversity of gender experiences across cultures and regions. This range of analyses demonstrates how a global perspective enriches feminist analyses. Students will quickly learn that to investigate gender dynamics adequately, attention must be paid simultaneously to the processes of racialization, class, colonialism and imperalism, and sexuality that interweave with gender to produce complex forms of oppression.