Publisher Description

Contains 23 papers originally published in 1988 which discuss, inter alia, interdisciplinary research on models and theories of gender and development, historical perspectives of feminism, ideology and culture, and women's organization.

A collection of essays by a number of outstanding women of the Caribbean on the situation of women in the region, in the period since the Beijing Conference of 1995. Examining a range of issues including education, poverty, decision-making, and violence, the authors expose continuing burdens and disadvantages faced by women.

Recent discussion of postmodern culture describes a movement from center to periphery, privileging cultures that were formerly marginalized. Women and Change in the Caribbean, a study of women marginalized by both gender and race in a region such as the Caribbean—itself marginalized in global terms—attempts to extract insights relevant both within and beyond geographical confines. This volume offers a feminist interpretation of a multicultural society emerging from colonialism and in the process of change and restructuring. The nineteen chapters include case studies of fifteen different Caribbean territories including Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Puerto Rico, Grenada, and Guyana. The book is divided into two sections: the first looks at women's status and gender relations in the private and public spheres; the second looks at women's economic activity. Taking a broad pan-Caribbean comparative view contributors discuss territories with American, British, Dutch, Danish, French, and Spanish colonial traditions and current political links. The contributors come from a range of disciplinary backgrounds including agriculture, anthropology, economics, geography, history, sociology, and women's studies.

Drawing on rich empirical research, this book examines the evolution and success of feminist strategies to promote democratic governance, women’s rights and gender equality in the Caribbean.

Eudine Barriteau exposes the precarious position of women in twentieth century Caribbean societies through analyzing the operations of gender systems. She reveals the absence of gender justice and equity, and demonstrates that after twenty-five years of policies on women, Caribbean societies still have not confronted the fundamental problem of women's subordination and the conditions that maintain this. The strategies used by developing states to focus on women are criticised as inadequate and it is recommended that state and society pay more attention to understanding the lives of women.