An Introduction to Women's Studies: Gender in a Transnational World

This anthology introduces students to the modern period's history of key ideas related to sexual difference, gender, race, class, and sexuality. While most introductory Women's Studies textbooks focus on the United States, even if they add multiculturalism to the discussion, this book looks at women in diverse locations around the world and encourages students to think about gender in a transnational rather than a purely U.S. context. The selections provide students in the U.S. with a way to understand points of view from other locations and cultures, especially crucial in the post-9-11 geopolitical situation.

The transnational approach to understanding gender brings Women's Studies into an era of globalization by connecting women’s issues in the United States to women’s issues elsewhere. The book shows how colonialism and imperialism, as they spread across the world, shaped ideas about gender as much as other modern phenomena. It addresses issues of power and inequality by focusing on historical connections rather than solely on commonalties.

The readings are truly interdisciplinary, drawing upon scholarly work in many disciplines and interdisciplinary fields as well as non-scholarly sources. Short essays introduce each of the book’s four sections, explaining the concepts and ideas behind the selection of readings.

is currently Director and Professor of Women Studies at University of California-Irvine. She received her Ph.D. in English from the University of California at Berkeley. A founder of Narika, an agency that addresses the needs of South Asian women in the U.S., she works with activist groups that focus on Asian women and immigration issues. She has authored a monograph and co-edited several books and journal issues, often with her long time collaborator Caren Kaplan. Her special interests include the history of British imperialism, non-western women travelers, consumer culture and globalization, South Asian women in diaspora, and the new transnational feminist activism

Caren Kaplan is currently Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Women's Studies at the University of California at Davis. After receiving her Ph.D. in the History of Consciousness Program at the University of California at Santa Cruz, she served on the faculty in the Department of English at Georgetown University from 1986 to 1992. The author of a monograph as well as the co-editor of several books, she has collaborated with Inderpal Grewal for many years on essays and edited collections. Her special interests are the history of Western and international feminism, feminist theory, and aspects of imperialism and globalization such as travel, tourism, and information technologies.