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In the context of state-society relations in the US, the establishment, development, organization, & activities of the Women's Bureau (WB) are reviewed. The WB, a permanent agency for women's policy issues housed in the Dept of Labor & established in the 1970s, influenced policy on equal rights for women (1966-1972), pregnancy discrimination (1970-1978), & job training (1975-1992). The WB has not been associated with any particular stream of feminism, but has focused on training for displaced homemakers & women offenders, child care, problems of minority women, & nontraditional jobs for women. Contrary to its mission, the WB has inadequate resources to function as a member of top government policy-making teams for social planning. Organized women's groups must still seek their own way into policy networks in education, welfare, crime, etc. M. Pflum

Draws on 1988-1992 interviews with Samiti members across India & Samiti & RSS (opposition) publications to explore issues surrounding Hindu nationalist women's agency, Hindu nationalist spatialities (eg, body, streets, city, nation), the political stakes in Hindu nationalism for Hindu nationalists & their opponents. Following a brief overview of Hindu nationalism, the RSS, & Samiti, the latter two's idea of the Hindu nation are compared. These notions are then linked to Samiti agency in Ahmedabad. Hindu nationalist women's agency is related to critical feminist theory on right-wing women, stressing agentic differentialist & agentic similitude theoretical positions. That Samiti members' agency can be viewed as "gender-supplemental agency" relative to their RSS counterparts is detailed. It is contended that spatialities are key actors in Samiti agency; they are producers, signifiers, & material effects of power relations between Hindu nationalist men & women, & polygendered Hindu nationalists & their polygendered Others (ie, Muslims). Using Laclau's (1996) thought to form the basis for discussion on fascist discourse's capacity to bind contradictory elements, how these spatialities are sites for the concentration of Hindu nationalist is examined. The relationship between agency & spatialities is analyzed from the perspective of scale. Understanding the scale at which Samiti agency can develop or is inhibited by the RSS can shed light on Hindu nationalism's limitations for women. Further, unpacking the gender contradictions of Hindu nationalist spatialities might open the dominant male nationalism to women's critique. Implications of the study for the gender comparative method & the focus on spatialities & scale are scrutinized. J. Zendejas

Feminists in Ireland faced a particularly patriarchal state, which has essentially relegated women to the domestic role. Under some pressure from feminists, three state agencies for women have been formed in the last two decades: the Employment Equality Agency in 1977, the Ministry of State for Women's Affairs (MSWA) in 1982, & the Joint Oiteachtas Committee of Women's Rights (JOCWR) in 1983. The origins, organization, activities, role in the policy process, & linkages to women's organizations of the MSWA (1982-1987) & the JOCWR up to 1993 are described. Reports & legislation produced by the MSWA & the JOCWR underline the important role these policy structures have played in Ireland in expediting social change for women. However, major issues such as divorce & abortion remain outside their scope. M. Pflum

"Feminism and the Politics of Difference" published on by Oxford University Press.

"Globalization through Feminist Lenses" published on by Oxford University Press.

Contends that Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) appealed to a range of politically active women, including feminists, by recasting their militancy into fascist fanaticism. The historiography of British fascism is reviewed, noting its theoretical & methodological advance since the 1960s with respect to understanding women's position & participation in fascism. In this light, attention turns to patterns of female adherence to BUF & the part of women in the organization despite its structurally & ideologically masculine construction. The manner in which women exercised their agency in the fascist movement is considered, & leadership instability & turnover in the Women's Section of the BUF, parallel to male leadership conditions, is indicated; scandals, including those of a sexual nature, that lead to reorganization are described. The mobilization of BUF women against WWII is addressed, suggesting that their activism -- & the government's reaction to it -- belied the notion of their submissiveness to their male counterparts. How BUF women reconciled fascism & feminism is pondered. BUF women's assertiveness & political engagement convinced the male leadership of their useful fanaticism & demonstrated that extreme Right women could politicize beyond feminism. J. Zendejas

Examines women's agency in Turkish Islamic revivalism, focusing on the 1980s new veiling movement. The Islamist women's movement is situated along the continuum of Turkish women's activism before scrutinizing how Islamist women's identity is defined in terms of the Kemalist idea of the new Turkish woman & the Islamist construct of the traditional woman. It is argued that Islamist women's veiling in the public sphere confronts the legitimacy of the secular republic & stands in contention with secular women's groups. In addition, some Islamic women are redefining their identity with reference to Islamic sources to challenge the elite patriarchy. Together, these actions, termed "double patriarchy," curtail the possibility of Islamist women's political equality. Thus, demonstrated is how the identity claims of Islamist women are inhibited by the patriarchal Islamist elite & secular, Kemalist women. J. Zendejas

Examines women's agency in Turkish Islamic revivalism, focusing on the 1980s new veiling movement. The Islamist women's movement is situated along the continuum of Turkish women's activism before scrutinizing how Islamist women's identity is defined in terms of the Kemalist idea of the new Turkish woman & the Islamist construct of the traditional woman. It is argued that Islamist women's veiling in the public sphere confronts the legitimacy of the secular republic & stands in contention with secular women's groups. In addition, some Islamic women are redefining their identity with reference to Islamic sources to challenge the elite patriarchy. Together, these actions, termed "double patriarchy," curtail the possibility of Islamist women's political equality. Thus, demonstrated is how the identity claims of Islamist women are inhibited by the patriarchal Islamist elite & secular, Kemalist women. J. Zendejas

Explores the application of a postmodern feminist perspective to women's lives in the anglophone Caribbean, focusing on Barbados. It is shown that the postmodern perspective explains many political actions taken by Anglo-Caribbean women, without employing the universalist or hegemonic tendencies of the more liberal or social feminist frameworks that misinterpret or even ignore such actions. Moreover, in that it stresses diversity, difference, & positionality, the postmodern approach is taken to recognize women's agency, the power of women's knowledge, & the tradition of resistance among Caribbean women much more than alternatives. The postmodernist perspective is described as a challenge to Caribbean feminists to build feminist theories from the bottom up on the basis of indigenous experience & knowledge of those they are purporting to assist. D. M. Smith

Introduces a Vol of nine Chpts (each abstracted) by providing a theoretical & political context for issues raised by recent changes in & challenges to the political project of feminism. The central idea of a shared oppression uniting women in their struggle for liberation informed second-wave feminism of the 1960s & 1970s, which tended to concentrate on social structures that universally disadvantaged women, regardless of class, race, or sexual differences. This ignorance of difference eventually led to the assertion of radical difference in postmodernist & poststructuralist feminist thought. These new strands of theory were anchored in a wider challenge to Western philosophical thought that revealed the gendered nature of the dichotomies that structure it. Two particular claims were stressed by poststructural feminists: that all knowledge was partial & relative to the social construction of experience. Thus, recent feminist work is described as emphasizing the local & cultural variability of gender in all its forms. Others have focused on the nature of power as ambivalent & negotiated rather than imposed from one group onto another. With a focus on identity issues in the context of practicing feminism, contributions address the significance of women's agency & sense of active subjectivity as well as notions of identity construction in power relations. 85 References. D. M. Smith

The use of the concept of strategy as a theoretical tool in the investigation of women's purposive, everyday practices is explored, focusing on strategies related to working & mothering in the context of larger social changes. The sociological conception of strategy is closely related to Pierre Bourdieu's notion of habitus; issues of agency & structure are considered. Other conceptualizations drawn from economics & history are compared & the use of the concept in various national contexts is examined. It is argued that social change is key in explaining the purposive & quasirational dimensions of social practices in women's lives; such strategies become more complex & widely used in the absence of social policies to deal with such changes. Examples are provided from several European countries on employed mothers' strategies to balance their family & work roles, comparing rational, packaging, coping, & indirect/unconscious strategies. K. Hyatt Stewart

"Gender, Religion, and International Relations" published on by Oxford University Press.

The organizations, activities, & responsibilities of Denmark's Equal Status Council (DESC), created in the 1970s, are described. DESC is the focus for feminist operations in the state, & the dominant agency for legislation on gender equality. DESC grew out of great controversy about women's role in society as homemaker vs worker, so in composing DESC, multiple sides of the debate had to be represented. The strategies & ideology of DESC have largely been influenced by women's organizations, especially since 1988. Even though these organizations are rivals in attracting members, they share similar perceptions of the tactics for embracing women's interests. The outcomes for DESC have been ambiguous; they have increased gender equality, but other areas vital for women's status & well-being have remained outside their scope. M. Pflum

The Dept for the Coordination of Equality Policy (DCE) is the most important Dutch government agency for women's policy. The DCE's 1978 establishment, organization, role in policy formation, & relations with Dutch women's movement are reviewed. Because of the influence of Dutch feminist ideology, the DCE is relatively informal & nonhierarchical in comparison to other agencies. Its ability to initiate new policies on its own is limited; it serves more of a coordinating role. The three-sided network envisioned by feminists -- the "iron triangle" composed of the DCE, the women's movement, & a strong government advisory body -- has never materialized, & the DCE itself is now weakening due to the policy of integration of agencies. M. Pflum

Party politics in GB has impeded networking across government agencies to promote women's policies, so only two state agencies devoted to this topic exist. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) opened its doors in 1975 to enforce & develop equality legislation, following passage of the Sex Discrimination Act. Women's interests are also addressed by the small advisory agency, the Women's National Commission. The origins, organizational structure, activities, & influence of the EOC 1975-present are described. After years of ambivalence, the EOC changed course in 1988 to mainstream sex equality policy, but inequalities in pay scales, occupations, child care provision, & welfare continue. The EOC had some early failures, & has excluded certain feminist organization policy making, so there is pressure for the establishment of a Ministry of Women apart from the EOC. M. Pflum