The expansion of married women's property rights was a main achievement of the first wave of feminism in Latin America. As Carmen Diana Deeere and Magdalena Leon reveal, however, the disjuncture between rights and actual ownership remains vast. This is particularly true in rural areas, where the distribution of land between men and women is highly unequal. In their pioneering, twelve-country comparative study, the authors argue that property ownership is directly related to womenÆs bargaining power within the household and community, point out changes resulting from recent gender-progressive legislation, and identify additional areas for future reform, including inheritance rights of wives.

Annotation Explores how markets and market ideology affect the lives of Latin American people through their communities, culture, resource base, local labor markets, and households. Among the topics of the eight papers are tensions between women's and indigenous groups over land rights, gender and reproduction in a Brazilian company town, and the restructuring of labor markets and household economies in urban Mexico. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

The book aims to critically analyze the possible legal mechanisms and processes, which could be used by indigenous peoples in the protection and management of their cultural and intellectual property. The book studies the historic and legal context in which the debate on the rights of indigenous peoples has developed. It analyses mechanisms such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). The book ends with a discussion on the possible courses of action, which indigenous peoples could take in order to improve the levels of protection and management available to them regarding their cultural and intellectual rights.