Women and European politics: Contemporary feminism and public policy - Hardcover

Lovenduski, Joni

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0710807058 ISBN 13: 9780710807052

Publisher: Wheatsheaf Books, 1986

Synopsis

Women and European Politics is a comprehensive country-by-country survey of the changing political and economic history of women in Eastern and Western Europe over the last two centuries. Joni Lovenduski first discusses the contributions of the "first wave" feminists who fought for women suffrage as well as for reforms in family life, wage work, and educational opportunities. A more economically independent group of "second wave" feminists were concerned primarily with women's political activism, reproductive rights, child care provision for wage-earning women, laws against rape and sexual harassment, and consciousness-raising about women's oppression.

Throughout her consideration of these issues, Lovenduski remains keenly aware of the unique situation for the women in each country discussed, as well as the divisions created among women due to differing social class and ethnic background. She is also skeptical of official press reports and accounts of women's political activity and aware of the interplay between professed government ideology and actual social and political practices as they affect women's daily lives.

About this title

About the Author

Senior Lecturer in Politics at the Department of European Studies of Loughborough University. Joni Lovenduski is co-editor of The Politics of the Second Electorate.

Review

"A very welcome addition to the literature in comparative politics and women's studies. Lovenduski has read widely and carefully into the extant literature, and has produced a comprehensive survey of the changing position of European women in the political arena. The book is unusual in its genre for attempting an historical perspective on this matter . . . exceptionally intelligent and comprehensive."―Joan B. Landes, Hampshire College

About this edition

• Publisher: Wheatsheaf Books
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0710807058
• ISBN 13: 9780710807052
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320