June Purvis

Mary Maynard

This text reveals the diversities which continue to shape women's beliefs and experiences. It includes debates on women and nationalisms, women and social policy, sexuality, black studies and ethnic studies, women and education, women and cultural production and women's studies and gender studies.

Knowledge, Identity And Nationalism

New Frontiers In Women's Studies

Joanna de Groot

This interdisciplinary collection is concerned with important theoretical and methodological issues facing women's studies. Drawing on feminist theory and politics it addresses a range of questions raised for women's studies by work conducted in history, literature, politics and sociology. The editors provide a context for these debates in their introductory essay which gives an overview of the development of women's studies and reflects on its current position. In their concluding chapter they also suggest a framework from which women's studies might move forward.

Doing Things Differently?

Women's Studies in the 1990s

Haleh Afshar

During the past decade, feminism and women's studies have been forced to acknowledge the diversities of women's experiences, as well as the patriarchal oppression that they share. The emphasis on difference has shattered the illusion of homogeneity and sisterhood which previously characterized white, middle-class Westernized feminist politics and analysis.; There is relatively little work which concentrates on the inter-relationships of race and gender in general, and the consequences of racism, for women of different backgrounds, in particular. "The Dynamics of Race and Gender" aims to contribute to the debate and understanding in this area. Emphasis has been given to age, class, disability, race and sexuality. The contributors to this volume are from different religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, giving a balanced and broad ranging perspective on this important social question.; Organized around three main themes, which are; issues of theory and method, questions of identity, racism and sexism at work, the chapters of this book indicate how the processes of race and gender interrelate in highly complex and contradictory ways. Demonstrating the benefits to be gained from analysing the interplay of various axes of differentiation in specific empirical and historical locations, and in doing so, under- scoring the point that diversity among women cannot be seen as a static phenomenon.

Some Feminist Interventions

The Dynamics Of Race And Gender

Sexuality and sexual politics have been much debated over the last 20 years and feminists, in particular, have been responsible for politicising the debate, pointing out how something which is usually regarded as private and personal is, in fact, a public and political issue. This text illustrates the diversity and excitement of debates about sexuality in women's studies and feminism today, and points to new paths for feminist analysis, thinking and action. In particular, heterosexuality can no longer be taken for granted and must, along with other forms of sexuality, be explicitly addressed. The volume is divided into three sections: "Analysing (Hetero)sexuality" is concerned with exploring some of the complexities of the material aspects of sexual relations between men and women; "Media Discourses of Sexuality" contains analyses derived from women's magazines, television and newspapers; and "Practising Sexual Politics" focuses on the reflexive awareness of sexual politics in the framing of methodological issues in research.

Mary Maynard

Books

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