Searching for Security: Women's Responses to Economic Transformations

Human Security is a development buzzword of the 1990s. To attain security people need to be safe from natural disasters, such as famine, and 'man-made' problems, such as unemployment. Women are a particularly insecure section of society with the impact of deprivation disproportionately shouldered by women throughout the developing world.
Searching for Security examines how economic, political and environmental factors have contributed to increased gender insecurity in the last decade. Analyzing the impacts of insecurity-inducing global changes on the lives of women throughout the developing world, the book discusses the gender responses to these changing circumstances from Africa to Malaysia, Hungary to the Caribbean.
By examining the impact of liberal economic policies, and to a lesser extent the impact of war, rape and environmental damage on the lives of women, this collection of essays makes a timely contribution to emerging policy efforts to recognize and address the issue of gender insecurity.

Isa Baud is associate Professor of the Institute of Human Geography, University of Amsterdam; Ines Smyth has recently joined OXFAM as a Policy Advisor.