Handbook of Gender and Women’s Studies

Gender and women’s studies is one of the most challenging fields within the social sciences- the dynamics of gender relations and the social and cultural implications of gender constructions offer a lively forum of debate.

The Handbook of Gender and Women’s Studies presents a comprehensive and engaging review of the most recent developments within the field, including the study of masculinity, the feminist implications of postmodernism, the `cultural turn’ and globalization. The authors review current research and offer critical analyses of women’s and gender studies in work, the welfare state, family, education, religion, violence and war and feminist global politics.

Edited by three leading academics from Europe and the United States, and with 25 chapters written by scholars based throughout the world, the Handbook situates the most important debates in the field within a uniquely international and interdisciplinary context. The Handbook is a useful introduction to gender theory and an exciting starting-point for fresh debates.

Reviews

`This is an excellent and timely addition to the literature on Gender and Women’s Studies. Each chapter explores contemporary questions and dilemmas in feminist theory and research, assessing the impacts of past research and feminist actions. Leading scholars discuss such topics as the state of women’s and gender studies, feminist epistemology, cultural representations, globalization and the state, families, and work. This book is sure to be an essential resource for gender scholars and students’ – Joan Acker, University of Oregon

`This breathtakingly broad, interdisciplinary reader demonstrates how widely feminist thinking has spread, how deeply it has shaken settled assumptions in the disciplines and how much new light it throws on contemporary controversies.This volume offers not only a reference manual to what we now know about gender relations as social forces but also gives impetus to future thinking in imaginative and utopian ways about questions of gender, power and knowledge’ – Myra Marx Ferree, University of Wisconsin-Madison

`This is a timely intervention and highly engaged, thoughtful and scholarly analysis of the state of gender and wmoen’s studies in the west by three eminent feminist scholars who have been centrally involved in feminist struggles and scholarship for some time. They have an acute understanding of what matters to feminism and bring together a wide range of essential new readings on gender works and gender troubles. Highly cognisant of the central issues that have fractured, blocked and enhanced western feminism they provide a contextual and political understanding of change and sustained normativity in gender relations. The Handbook ends with a call for gendered trouble making. Following the achievemnent of this handbook, it seems to be the least we as readers can do’ – Professor Bev Skeggs, Goldsmiths College

`The Handbook gives a pedagogically well structured and thoroughly updated overview over discussions of central issues in contemporary women’s and gender studies, including critical studies of men and masculinities. The comprehensiveness and the interdisciplinary range of themes are impressive, and they make the Handbook into a wonderful tool for teachers and students of women’s and gender studies. It fulfills an obvious and pressing need for easy accessible overview of the literature. The Handbook strikes a good balance between overview and critically situated analysis, relevant for courses in Women’s and Gender Studies on many levels’ – Nina Lykke, Director of Nordic Research School in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, Linkoeping University