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Critically assesses several theoretical concepts in the white feminist literature & discusses their relevance for black feminist theory in the UK. Such notions as the family & sexuality, which have become common parlance in the white feminist movement, also contribute to the movement's oppression of black women. Either black women are treated as insignificant by theories that employ these concepts, or they are idealized in a kind of anthropological cultural essentialism. The failure of white feminists to recognize their difference from black women has contributed to the nearly exclusive Eurocentric focus of most theorizing on women's oppression. It is argued that a better feminist theorizing will include a deep understanding of the workings of both imperialism & racism in patriarchy. Moreover, it will involve a synthesis of notions of class, race, gender, & sexuality. The development of this kind of feminist theorizing necessarily entails a greater role for black feminists in the wider feminist conversation. 3 References. D. Ryfe

The author takes up the question of the usefulness of theory to the practice of feminist scholarship & at least as importantly to the practice of feminism & to the lives of women -- especially poor women living in societies in which women have even fewer rights than do their sisters elsewhere. Still, despite the limitations of theory, she argues that feminist philosophers should take up Kant's practical postulate. Women continue to suffer throughout the world from pervasive discrimination vis-a-vis all major human capabilities, including life itself, but this does not mean that the large-scale practical task of wedding history to theory should not be attempted. Such an attempt remains morally valuable to help us sustain hope about the human condition. D. Knaff

Of the women's policy machinery mechanisms in the fourteen advanced industrialized societies reviewed in this book (see abstract of book & chapters in IRPS No. 86), all but Poland advance feminist political goals to change the status of women in relation to men, & have some influence in the development & implementation of policy to this end. An analytical typology is presented that explains the variation in the states' political machineries to achieve feminist goals. The typology dichotomizes twelve cases (excluding Poland & Spain) by level of policy access & level of policy influences. When positive presence of any of the four conditions for effective promotion of women's status is lacking -- politics of establishment, organizational forms, conceptions of state, & politics of the women's movement -- the ability of state feminist offices to influence policy on equality & give women's groups access to policy making is constrained. High levels of state feminism accrue in the state, defined as sites of social justice, with widely supported feminist organizations working through radical & reform politics. 1 Appendix, 375 References. M. Pflum

Draws on Michel Foucault's work to discuss the process of feminist resistance in the context of ethical & political challenges. Focus is on the concepts of marginalization & individuality, as well as exclusion, power relations, the state & rights discourse, truth, & the female body as a site of power & resistance. Foucault's method of understanding power relations is viewed as complementing feminist analysis, but is faulted for contributing to the androcentricity of dominant discourses for his dismissive examination of gender in power relations. 79 References. M. Greenberg

An analysis of adolescent feminism as revealed through conversations with 4 teenagers. The discussions focused on the presumed problem areas of adolescence: eating, sexuality, & outrage. Findings reveal that women rejected femininity in favor of a "benign version of masculinity" that enabled them to function as "one of the guys." The conversations exposed a distrust of men & of female solidarity by the adolescents. The young women also refused to draw a distinction between sexual relations & other power relations. 35 References. M. Greenberg

Concludes an edited vol of personal ruminations by feminist scholars on the experience of marginality in the academy in the US, UK, & Europe. This marginal status, understood in terms of sheer numbers, epistemological foundation of theory & research, & research topics, has been exacerbated in recent years by an encroaching managerialist sensibility in the university that has become a rallying cry for efficiency & greater fiscal austerity. It is suggested that a starting point for resistance is to cease the quest for a stable home for feminist thinking & practice in the university. Instead, scholars are encouraged to realize that stability is impossible, & a constantly shifting position of inside & outside perspective might reduce the effort to demarcate us from them, & instead lead to more healthy & positive relationships across universities & disciplines. 10 References. D. M. Ryfe

Chronicles the origins of India's women's movement in the 1970s & its development over the course of the 1980s-1990s. Discussion focuses on the movement's role in addressing poverty, as well as the political agendas & activities of the various strands of the women's movement. In addition, the author examines how the disenfranchisement of poor women served to rally various feminist groups. Finally, challenges posed to feminist antipoverty efforts by liberalization & globalization are identified, & the future of the women's movement as it relates to gender & poverty are considered. K. Hyatt Stewart

Discusses political struggles of black activists in the UK, drawing on an analysis of several campaigns of the Southall Black Sisters (SBS) & its sister organization, Brent Asian Women's Refuge. It is suggested that these campaigns were motivated by a simple black/white dichotomy, which, while creating solidarity, also rested on inappropriate essentialisms. Personal recognition of the ambiguity & contradictions in dominant & subordinate groups was attained when Indian Hindu nationalists began to oppress Christians during the early 1990s. As a Hindu, the author at that time became both part of a subordinate group fighting for justice, & part of an oppressive group that denied justice to others. This experience pointed the way to a new kind of political strategizing that depended less on essentialisms than on an embrace of difference. Women against Fundamentalism, a women's group dedicated to fighting religious fundamentalism in the UK, is identified as a form of coalitional politics that draws its strength from diversity rather than homogeneity. 3 References. D. Ryfe

Traces the historical relation of gender to sociology & argues that the postmodern challenge has worked to alter the fundamental terms of debate. It is shown that traditional sociology's effort to incorporate gender into theories of stratification or inequality ended in ignoring the full power of gender as a category of social life. Feminist standpoint epistemology has informed a more explicitly feminist sociology, but a discussion of the work of Sandra Harding (1987) & Nancy Hartsock (1983) indicates that this framework simply replaces the masculine with a feminine viewpoint without troubling the basic totalizing framework of traditional sociology. Postmodern sociology is favored as an approach to gender because it destabilizes monolithic categories to ask how differentiations are produced by particular strategies & movements of power within the social field. By remaining close to the constitution of gender categories, it is argued that postmodern sociology opens the possibility of examining the relation of the actual & potential in the production of politics. 76 References. D. M. Smith

Drawing on 1990-1998 research on Islamist women in Egypt, it is argued that the moderate Islamist movement includes feminists. Focus is on Zaynab Al-Ghazali, Safinaz Qazim, & Heba Ra'uf & the continuities & shifts in ideas & action vis-a-vis feminism, Islamisms, & the state. In addition, developments in Islamist feminisms are addressed, discerning a trajectory that moves from natural dispositions to the Euro-Ameri-Zionism dictatorship of society & state, to family states & political motherhood. J. Zendejas

Considers the consequences of black feminist theory in the UK for the development of feminism generally. The aim of black feminism was never to oppose white feminists in general, but rather, a form of white feminism that has attempted to universalize a white perspective. Moreover, the contribution of black feminism was never simply to add the experiences & perspectives of black women to those of white women, but rather, to convince white women that their experiences are inseparable from those of black women. Racism has shaped their experience as much as it has that of black women. To move beyond this racial dichotomy, it is suggested that feminists ought to embrace a postmodernist perspective that incorporates both the deconstruction of subjectivity & the political necessity of asserting identity. This perspective may be obtained only through a great degree of self-consciousness & reflexivity, as theorists pay careful attention to the relation of utterance to action, & oppressed & oppressing classes. D. Ryfe

Canada has had women's policy institutions since the 1950, with a flurry of innovation in the early 1970s, but effectiveness has been uneven. Canadian femocrats have brough about change in substantive policy working within the Canadian policy-making model. However, a single visible goal has been lacking, women's interests were never formally integrated, & the interpretation of the place of women's agencies in state agencies has been influenced by changing state ideologies. Progress in research & education occurred only when conditions like a change in government, a sympathetic minister, or effective lobbying by women's groups brought together supportive factors. The relation between women's groups & the women's policy agencies in the federal government appeared to be symbiotic until the mid-1980s, since advocates for women spoke principally through the women's National Action Committee (NAC). In the mid-1980s, leftist feminists took more control of the NAC, & the Quebec feminists rejected the NAC's liberal stance. Now state-women's groups relations are more contentious. M. Pflum

Investigates the relation of African American women to contemporary feminist issues & organizing, drawing on interviews with 30 such women who have been involved in African American organizations. Results indicate that these women are hesitant to embrace the identity of feminist. Although they engage in feminist activities, they tend to view feminism in the popular 1970s sense of the term as antimale & middle-class white. A number perceive their exclusion from the women's movement as reason to resist the feminist label, while others believe that racial issues are more important than gender issues. Efforts to construct a new vernacular for African American female political activism, such as womanism or black feminism, are taken to indicate the negative effect of the women's movement on African American women. To develop better collaboration between African American women & feminism, it is suggested that women's groups must do better in understanding the construction of African American gendered identities & goals. 30 References. D. Ryfe