Everett and Charlton, pioneering feminist scholars of international development and comparative politics, provide a dynamic analysis of the mixed blessings for women of neoliberal globalization—that is, the capitalist marketplace operating within and across spaces of limited governmental regulation. Their writing is conceptually sound, clear, and accessible, with case studies on work, water, health, and human trafficking. While attentive to the big picture of institutions and public policies at national and international levels, the authors highlight women's agency in struggles to make a better and fairer world.
Kathleen Staudt, University of Texas at El Paso Women Navigating Globalization is an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the complex interplay between gender relations and globalization that neither neglects the importance of local sites and struggles nor ignores their relevance to international policy. Everett and Charlton adopt a ‘gender-plus focus’ showing the imperative of addressing gender inequalities and injustices in relation to injustices based on race, class, nationality, sexuality, and disability as part of any development scenario—whether that relates to the problems of human trafficking, the management of natural resources such as water, the quality of work, or the conditions for health and well-being. Under the ambit of globalization, this empirically rich book encompasses a broader range of development dilemmas and of country experiences to address global policy debates as well as local struggles and realities. Deploying several feminist perspectives and the inspiration of women’s movements, we see that different ways of framing the problem can lead to different solutions in different development contexts—be it Bangladesh or Russia, India or Brazil, the United States or Chile. Above all, we learn that multilevel strategies are essential for bringing about more gender-equal, inclusive, and balanced global development.
Jacqui True, Monash University Everett and Charlton have written a clear, comprehensive analysis of globalization and development examined through the lens of feminist analysis. They begin with conceptual analyses of their terms, soundly documented and referenced with key studies. They embrace multiple forms of feminism as practiced differently in diverse world areas. The authors provide a balanced emphasis on top-down structures that shape lives and on the agency that women bring, individually and collectively, to their situations. Everett and Charlton ask and answer their key questions at different levels of analysis, from local and regional to national and international. In four chapters, before their conclusion, they offer innovative applications of these concepts in four areas and eight places: human trafficking (Russia and Bangladesh), water (Peru and South Africa), work (Brazil and India), and women's health (Chile and the African Union) . . . [T]hese experienced researchers/authors . . . analyze the material in a sophisticated yet accessible way, which will be of value to upper-division or graduate students and academics. The book is as comprehensive as Mary Hawkesworth's Globalization and Feminist Activism. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.
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