Female well-being : toward a global theory of social change / Janet Mancini Billson and Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, editors.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Billson, Janet Mancini.

Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Social conditions--20th century.

Women--Social conditions--Cross-cultural studies.

Women--Social conditions.

Women in development.

Maternal and infant welfare.

Women--Health and hygiene--Cross-cultural studies.

Women--Health and hygiene.

Maternal and infant welfare--Cross-cultural studies.

Women in development--Cross-cultural studies.

Genre:

Cross-cultural studies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 432 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Zed Books ; New York : Distributed in the USA exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Summary:

This global survey starts from the assumption that the significant transformations in women's lives deserve to be fully documented and interpreted. Janet Mancini Billson and Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban tackle the complexities of social change by using data from countries in every world region to illustrate the most critical challenges that women faced during the last century - challenges that are also likely to shape the 21st century.

Global knowledge and feminism dovetailed in the 20th century, fed by international air travel, telecommunications, the Internet, and a growing awareness that solving female oppression would improve the lot of all humankind. The authors therefore adopt a strong international, comparative, cross-cultural, and feminist framework that uncovers the fundamental processes that promote, sustain, or degrade the female condition.

At the heart of Female Well-Being are case studies written by country teams of scholars, educators, and policy analysts, in Canada, the United States, Colombia, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Japan, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa, and Sudan. Female well-being is measured by analysing trends in infant mortality, maternal mortality, literacy, life expectancy, education, work, income, family structure, and political power. These trends are contextualized in the light of the century's major events, legislative initiatives, social policies, and leadership, to illustrate the processes that enhance, sustain, or detract from the female condition. This book will be a critical resource for academics, development experts, and policy analysts.

Contents:

1 The twentieth century as a transformative time for women / Janet Mancini Billson, Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban 3

The fate of female well-being 3

The uneven patterns of social change 4

Assessment of female well-being as of 2000 5

A comparative case study approach 8

Comparative analysis of the case study countries 10

2 The complexities of defining female well-being / Janet Mancini Billson 23

The complexities of well-being 23

International efforts to improve female well-being 32

Eliminating discrimination against women: CEDAW 34

Globalization versus local networks 39

The 'gender differential' 41

3 A critique of social change theories / Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Janet Mancini Billson 45

The weakness of existing theories of social change 45

Modernization theory 47

Contributions of 'second wave' feminist scholars 52

Globalization and feminist theories 54

4 Women in Bangladesh: a journey in stages / Nasrin Sultana, Alema Karim 67

Status of women in the constitution of Bangladesh 67

A demographic portrait of Bangladeshi women 67

Family status and structure 71

Women's economic participation 76

Literacy and education 80

Political, educational and cultural leadership 85

Towards gender equality 89

5 Women in Canada: a century of struggle / Tess Hooks, Patrice Leclerc, Roderic Beaujot 94

A demographic portrait of Canadian women 94

Family status and structure 98

Violence against women 102

Economic participation 108

Literacy and education 112

Political, educational and cultural leadership 117

Towards the future 126

6 Women in Colombia: 'you forge your path as you walk' / Elena Garces de Eder, Adriana Marulanda Herran 133

The historical context 133

The political context 134

The social context 135

A demographic portrait of Colombian women 135

Family status and structure 140

Violence against women 142

Literacy and education 144

Economic participation 145

Political, educational and cultural leadership 148

Towards gender equality 153

7 Women in Croatia: continuity and change / Vesna Barilar, Zeljka Jelavic, Sandra Prlenda 159

The geo-political complexities of Croatia 160

A demographic portrait of Croatian women 161

Family status and structure 165

Women's economic participation 167

Literacy and education 169

Political, educational and cultural leadership 172

Towards gender equality 179

8 Women in Iceland: strong women - myths and contradictions / Thorgerdur Einarsdottir 181

From settlement to independence 181

The historical legacy of Icelandic women 182

A demographic portrait of Icelandic women 183

Family status and structure 185

Economic participation 188

Literacy and education 193

Political, educational and cultural leadership 196

Towards gender equality 200

9 Women in Japan: change and resistance to change / Masako Aiuchi, Makoto Ichimori, Masako Inoue, Keiko Kondo, Fusako Seki 207

The twentieth-century framework in Japan 207

A demographic portrait of Japanese women 208

Family status and structure 211

Violence against women 216

Economic participation 219

Literacy and education 223

Political, educational and cultural leadership 226

Towards gender equality and freedom 230

10 Women in South Africa: crossing the great divides of race and gender / A. M. (Ria) van Niekerk, Jopie van Rooyen 236

A demographic portrait of South African women 236

Family status and structure 240

Violence against women 243

Economic participation 244

Literacy and education 250

Political, educational and cultural leadership 251

Towards gender equality 258

11 Women in Sudan: resistance and survival / Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban 262

The geopolitical complexities of Sudan 262

From antiquity to the twenty-first century 263

A demographic portrait of Sudanese women 265

Family status and structure 268

Violence against women 271

Economic participation 273

Literacy and education 275

Political, educational and cultural leadership 276

Towards gender equality 282

12 Women in Thailand: changing the paradigm of female well-being / Farung Mee-Udon, Ranee Itarat 285

The gendered sociocultural context of Thailand 285

A demographic portrait of Thai women 288

Family status and structure 291

Violence against women 292

Economic participation 293

Literacy and education 297

Political, educational and cultural leadership 300

Towards gender equality 304

13 Women in the United Kingdom: the impacts of immigration, 1900-2000 / Erica Halvorsen, Heather Eggins 309

The first year of the century 310

Restrictions on immigration 311

Admitting Commonwealth citizens to the UK 311

The last year of the century 313

Economic participation 313

Literacy and education 318

Towards gender equality 321

14 Women in the United States of America: the struggle for economic citizenship / Laura Khoury 324

The past century 324

A demographic portrait of American women 328

Family status and structure 335

Violence against women 336

Economic participation 337

Literacy and education 342

Political, educational and cultural leadership 346

Towards gender equality 350

3 New theory for a new century 355

15 Common challenges: factors that enhance or detract from female well-being / Janet Mancini Billson, Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban 357

The impact of international movements 357

Demographic factors 358

Family status and structure factors 360

Violence against women factors 363

Economic factors 365

Education and literacy factors 366

Political factors 368

Towards gender equality 371

16 Towards a gendered theory of social change / Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Janet Mancini Billson 374

Principles of change emerging from the case studies 374

Towards an integrated theory of change 388

17 Towards global female well-being / Janet Mancini Billson, Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban 392

Redefining female well-being 393

The challenge of globalization for female well-being 397

Human rights, women's rights and female well-being 398

Rethinking democracy for women in the twenty-first century 400

Diversity and the future of the women's movement 402

Towards global female well-being 407.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

184277008X

1842770098

OCLC:

60590212