This collection of 18 articles shows how conceptions of the political are expanded and revised when viewed through the lens of gender. Organized to serve both scholars and students across the social sciences, this book re-examines such basic notions as citizenship, collectivity, political resistance and the state. Section One, "Gender, Citizenship, and Collectivity" includes: Nancy Frazer and Linda Gordon's critique of dependence and citizenship; Iris Young on women as a social collective; Ruth Bloch on the feminization of public virtue in revolutionary America; Trisha Franzen on feminism and lesbian community; and Sonia Kruks on de Beauvoir and feminism. "Collective Action and Women's Resistance", Section Two, features: Louise Tilly's "Paths of Proletarianization"; Temma Kaplan's "Female Consciousness and Collective Action"; and five assessments of women's collective action worldwide - Samira Haj on Palestine, Arlene McLeod on Egypt, Gay Seidman on South Africa, Nancy Sternbach et al on Latin America and Anne Walthall on Japan.
A section on gender and the state features: Bronwyn Winter on the law and cultural relativism; Sherene Razack on sexual violence; Wendy Luttrell on educational institutions; Patricia Stamp on ethnic conflict; Elizabeth Schmidt on patriarchy and capitalism; and Muriel Nazzari on post-revolutionary Cuba. These essays originally appeared in "Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society", edited by Ruth-Ellen Boetcher Joeres and Barbara Laslett.