Women, Culture, and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities

ISBN-13: 9780198289173 / Angielski / Twarda / 1996 / 496 str.

Martha Craven Nussbaum; Jonathon Glover; Lal Jayawardena

Opis

Women, a majority of the world's population, receive only a small proportion of its opportunities and benefits. According to the 1993 UN Human Development Report, there is no country in the world in which women's quality of life is equal to that of men. This examination of women's quality of life addresses questions which have a particular urgency, and aims to describe the basic situation of all women. The contributors confront the issue of cultural relativism, criticizing the approach which, in its desire to respect different cultural traditions, can result in indifference to injustice. Gender justice and women's equality is then proposed in various areas in which quality of life is measured. Like its predecessor, The Quality of Life, this volume encourages the reader to think critically about the central fundamental concepts used in development economics, and suggests major criticisms of current economic approaches from that fundamental viewpoint. In addition to scholars of women's and gender studies, this work will be of interest to economists, philosophers, political scientists, and sociologists.

Recenzje

Women, CultureNussbaum and Glover's anthology project a powerful and timely critique of cultural relativism in assessing the quality of life ... This anthology presents the viewpoints of the essentialists ... I felt deeply reassured by the cogent arguments of third-world women, who share my apprehension, in this multidimensional Nussbaum-Glover anthology. The combination of philosophical discourse, feminist insights and thorough economic analysis makes the book highly unusual ... refreshingly readable with writing that is witty and displays deep empathy with human values.