Description
Book SynopsisWomen and Market Societies explores the problems and possibilities for women which arise from the transition to a market economy in East Asia, the dismantling of state socialism in Eastern Europe and the restructuring of the economies and welfare states of the older capitalist market societies in Western Europe.
Questioning whether the global trend towards market economics will constrain or enhance women's opportunities, this innovative interdisciplinary volume also looks at the consequences for women as workers, and beyond that to the social and cultural implications. A distinguished group of scholars - from China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Europe - explores the issues which must be addressed before women can create a more empowering politics. Such issues include the continuing tensions between paid work in the market and unpaid work in the family and the extent to which Eastern or Western legislative frameworks, providing rights and benefits, have eased or exacerbated these tensions.
The paradoxical effects of modernising housework, the power and contestibility of global media representations of femininity, the experience of building a women's politics around consumption are all themes explored in this book which aims to contribute to an East-West dialogue among women.
Trade Review'Women in Market Societies
provides an interesting read on issues central to feminist economics. Although this book was originally published in 1995, the issues remain relevant and the analysis continues to provide texture for continuing changes in established and emerging market societies. . . The book does not claim to provide 'definitive conclusions, but [aims] to create an agenda for ongoing research and discussion' (p.1). Eight years later, this agenda still poses the key questions for those interested in the influence of market institutions on women's lives, and no other book published in the intervening years has pulled together such a broad range of issues with a focus on the intersection of market and gender studies.' -- Barbara E Hopkins, Feminist Economics
Table of ContentsContents: Preface Introduction Part I: Consumption and Women’s Politics: Past Experiences Part II: Modernizing Domestic Spaces: Liberating Women? Part III: Cultural Representations and Resistances Part IV: Crisis in Western Market Societies Part V: Problematic Transitions to Market Societies in the East
