Feminist Futures: Reimagining Women, Culture and Development - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 178360638X ISBN 13: 9781783606382

Publisher: Zed Books, 2016

Synopsis

At a time when fundamental concerns about social justice, sustainability, economic justice, and cultural diversity continue to be relegated to the sidelines of the mainstream development agenda, Feminist Futures is more essential than ever.
 
This revised and updated edition collects leading academics and a new generation of activists and scholars to provide fresh perspectives on how women in the Global South tranform our understanding of development. With essays ranging across Africa, Asia, and the Americas, it reveals how development efforts have repeatedly failed the Third World and illuminates the complex ways in which women continue to resist attempts to marginalize and subordinate them. Bringing together cultural studies, development studies, and feminist theory, contributors articulate an innovative framework for understanding connections between women, culture, and development, applying it to everything from sexuality to the environment, technology, and the cultural politics of representation.
 
Straddling disciplines and continents, Feminist Futures interweaves scholarship and social activism for a fascinating exploration of evolving positions of women in the Global South and an urgent demand for rethinking development approaches in the twenty-first century.

About this title

About the Author:

Kum-Kum Bhavnani is professor of sociology, global studies, and feminist studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where John Foran is professor of sociology and environmental studies. Priya A. Kurian is associate professor of political science and public policy at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, where Debashish Munshi is professor of management communication.

Review:

“Provides a rich perspective on the lived experiences and agencies of women. A highly creative endeavor that will be valuable to activists and academics committed to both agendas of social justice and nuanced understandings of the effects of development.” (Leela Fernandes, author of Transnational Feminism in the United States)

“A diverse and exciting tapestry of themes and authors, drawn from different disciplines and countries, assessing the situation of women in the South and speaking to the multiple challenges for the future.” (Lourdes Beneria, Cornell University)

“A candid and hard-hitting agenda for feminist scholarship and activism in the South in the twenty-first century.” (Patricia Mohammed, University of the West Indies)

“While providing an unflinching account of the ravages of globalization, the authors uncover visions of radically transformative feminisms that are rooted in women’s daily struggles for survival. The women, culture, and development approach that the authors embrace is more prescient and necessary than ever.” (Amrita Basu, Amherst College)

“This is the second edition of the influential text that established the women, culture, and development (WCD) approach to issues of women and development. The WCD approach links insights from feminist studies, cultural studies, and development studies to critique previous frameworks that privilege economics, narrowly define culture, or reproduce hierarchical gender relations. Yet this book is more than a critique; chapters also provide alternative accounts placing the lives and perspectives of women in the Third World at the center of analysis. Contributions are global in scope, interdisciplinary in perspective, and cover a wide range of issues. . . . Highly recommended.” (Choice)

“A valuable and often challenging volume, a winding river that yields nuggets of gold.” (Gender and Development)

About this edition

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 178360638X
• ISBN 13: 9781783606382
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 528
• Editor: Bhavnani Kum-Kum, Foran John, Kurian Priya A., Munshi Debashish