Women, Culture, and Development : A Study of Human Capabilities

Martha Craven Nussbaum

ISBN 10: 0198289170 / ISBN 13: 9780198289173

Published by OUP Oxford, 1996

About this Item

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - Women, a majority of the world's population, receive only a small proportion of its opportunities and benefits. According to the 1993 UN Human Development Report, there is no country in the world in which women's quality of life is equal to that of men. This examination of women's quality of life thus addresses questions which have a particular urgency. It aims to describe the basic situation of all women and so develops a universal account that can answer the charges of 'Western imperialism' frequently made against such accounts. The contributors confront the issue of cultural relativism, criticizing the relativist approach which, in its desire to respect different cultural traditions, can result in indifference to injustice. An account of gender justice and women's equality is then proposed in various areas in which quality of life is measured. These issues are related throughout to the specific contexts of India, Bangladesh, China, Mexico, and Nigeria through a series of case studies. Disciplines represented include philosophy, economics, political science, anthropology, law, and sociology. Like its predecessor, The Quality of Life, this volume encourages the reader to think critically about the central fundamental concepts used in development economics and suggests major criticisms of current economic approaches from that fundamental viewpoint.

Seller Inventory # 9780198289173

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Women, Culture, and Development : A Study of Human Capabilities
• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198289170
• ISBN 13: 9780198289173
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 235W x 157H x 34D millimeters 235 millimeters width by 157 millimeters height by 34 millimeters depth
• Weight: 949 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

Women, a majority of the world's population, receive only a small proportion of its opportunities and benefits. According to the 1993 UN Human Development Report, there is no country in the world in which women's quality of life is equal to that of men. This examination of women's quality of life addresses questions which have a particular urgency, and aims to describe the basic situation of all women. The contributors confront the issue of cultural relativism, criticizing the approach which, in its desire to respect different cultural traditions, can result in indifference to injustice. Gender justice and women's equality is then proposed in various areas in which quality of life is measured. Like its predecessor, The Quality of Life, this volume encourages the reader to think critically about the central fundamental concepts used in development economics, and suggests major criticisms of current economic approaches from that fundamental viewpoint. In addition to scholars of women's and gender studies, this work will be of interest to economists, philosophers, political scientists, and sociologists.

About the Author

Martha Nussbaum is at Brown University. Jonathan Glover is at University of Oxford.