The Women, Gender and Development Reader

Rating:
Summary: Good Overview of the Literature
Review: "The Women, Gender and Development Reader" is a useful compilation of articles on the subject. It has five parts, each dealing with a different aspect of studies on women and development. It starts out with a theoretical section that includes landmark articles, or excerpts from studies, by leading feminist scholars. Subsequent sections include articles on women and the household economy, women in the global economy, women's situation under social transformation in different parts of the world and finally women's movements in the developing world. This book is a welcome addition to publications on the subject of women and development and fills an important gap. It has both a broad theoretical and global perspective and pieces on specific communities around the world.

Rating:
Summary: good overview
Review: As a student of feminist theory and gender in development, this book came a little late for me - or some chapters did.
It provides a reasonable overview of the history of the field. This means that some bits are theoretical - but most have case examples mixed in to bring things to life.
A solid contribution to the field, but perhaps not a stop-the-presses investment for those of us who already have extensive gender and/in development libraries; check Zed Press for more cutting-edge issue-related stuff.