Asia and the Pacific

Women Farmers and Rural Change in Asia

by Noeleen Heyzer (ed) publ by the Asian and Pacific Development Centre, Pesiaran Data, P.O. Box 12224, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This book examines in detail rural women's experiences and perspectives of large-scale development programmes, rural projects and technological change. On the basis of a one-year research project covering China, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Thailand, the chapters provide accounts of what is happening to women farmers in the process of rapid change.

It shows how large-scale development projects have major transforming effects on the lives of women farmers whether intended or not, how the dynamics of these projects and programmes have created different opportunities and barriers for different sub-groups of rural women and men in areas of employment, income, workload, access to new resources and to organisations and channels of decision-making.

Shamans, Housewives and Other Restless Spirits: Women in Korean Ritual Life

by Laurel Kendal, University of Hawaii Press, 2840 Kolowalu St, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

A very detailed ethnography of a Korean ritual realm dominated by women: the rites that demarcate it, the supernatural beings who inhabit it, and the shamans who diagnose its vicissitudes and heal its ills. As a trained anthropologist and a woman among women, the author spent nearly two years in close association with the shamans, their clients and other villagers in a rural Korean village. Her book provides a wealth of intimate detail, keenly observed and vividly expressed.

The author views these ritual activities as a source of power for women; whether one agrees with her conclusions or not, the descriptions are true and compelling enough to make this book very interesting reading.

Philippine Women: From Assembly Line to Firing Line

by women's International Resource Exchange, 2700 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

A useful introductory booklet which can be used in a large range of instructional situations. It contains basic statistics, articles on various aspects of the existence of Philippine women, short biographies and some occasional poetry. A very clear and well-organised resource, it contains a number of good black-and-white photographs as well as occasional graphics.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Women and Change in Latin America

 by June Nash and Helen Safa, Bergin and Garvey publ. 670 Amherst Road, South Hadley, Massachusetts 01075

An important collection of studies on very contemporary issues. This volume looks at women as economic actors in the various countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, inquiring into such crucial areas as migration, industrial development and agriculture.

Some vital methodological issues are raised m the first chapter; thereafter, the various contributors present an impressive selection of information based on in-depth research. The rigorous scholarship involved in most of the articles will make this a landmark publication in identifying and exploring major issues facing feminist research in Latin America and the rest of the developing world.

Women in the Rebel Tradition: The English Speaking Caribbean

published by Women's International Resource Exchange 2700 Broadway, New York, NY 10025, USA

A very attractively published collection of articles which look at Caribbean women (finally) from a vigorous, assertive perspective. A somewhat motely collection, including as it does a historical portrait of a female folk hero, reflections on the destruction of the Grenada revolution, biographical statements by members of the Sistren Theatre Collective and a labour day message for domestic workers.

But this is the charm of the Caribbean after all, a group of islands which share a common history but is a hodge-podge of all kinds of strains. And if one does not try to define this publication too closely, and is content to saunter through the various tones and points of departure, one can get a strong sense of what the Caribbean women's movement is all about: groups struggling at different levels and in different styles and reaching tentatively towards each other.

Africa and the Middle East

Family in Turkish Society: Sociological and Legal Studies

by Turkoz Erder (ed) publ by the Turkish Social Science Association, Turk Sosyal Bilimler Demegi, Paris Caddesi 36/2 Kavakhdere, Ankara, Turkey

This collection of academic papers was prepared for a symposium on the changing structure and functions of the family in Turkey. It approaches the subject from two standpoints, the sociological and the legal. Beginning with a discussion of the traditional Turkish family, it then proceeds to document and evaluate the effects of recent change. It also assesses such institutions as the media and its effects on family.

In its later sections, it goes into constitutional and legislative issues and reviews such practices as early marriage, brideprice and the abduction of women.

Inter-African committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children Newsletter No 5

available from 147, rue de Lausanne, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland

Though the pieces in this newsletter are very short, they give an overview of the on-going research and action in this area of work. In this particular isue, there is an article on early marriage, subtitled, 'The silent carnage of our women' by Zemed Alemu, and an interesting report on traditional birth attendants in Sierra Leone.

Otherwise, the publication contains a number of updates on campaigns against the practice of female circumcision in the various parts of Africa.

Women and Politics in the Middle East: A special issue of Middle East Report, Vol 16 No. 1, January-February 1985

available from Room 518, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115 USA

The articles in this publication include one on Political Roles of Iranian Village Women, another on Women and the Palestinian Movement, and a third on Sudanese Women and Revolutionary Parties.

The turbulence of the region is reflected in a series of very jarring photographs: women in traditional dress bearing machine guns, young girl children learning to march. The contradictions of the situation make this a particularly interesting publication.

Europe

Child Abuse Special Issue of Feminist Review, Spring 1988

available from 11 Carleton Gardens, Brecknock Road, London N19 5AQ

At last. So much has been written about this painful subject in recent times, but so little of it is satisfactory that one gets a great sense of relief in discovering a volume which at least approaches the difficult dimensions of this topic.

The issue of child abuse has rapidly escalated into an epidemiology, but one whose symptoms do not easily lead to either easy diagnosis nor disease management. Looking into the question of incest has remained an experience of facing the void.

However, the various writers selected for the Feminist Review's special issue take little pieces of the void and focus tiny pinpricks of light into them. Coming from different disciplines, and with different types of experiences, they contribute to a valiant assault on the ignorance that we share.

At least, at the end, we have clarified our questions on the issue, though answers seem a long way ahead.

International

Women's Work: Development and the Division of Labour by Gender

by Eleanor Leacock, Helen I. Safia and contributors, publ by Begin and Garvey Inc, 670 Amherst Road, South Hadley, MA 01075, Massachusetts, USA

An extremely valuable collection. The issues covered range very widely in both geographical and cultural terms: from the Mamasani Women of Iran to Cloth and Women's Production in the Pacific to Sexual Division of Labour among the Yoruba, Women Workers in the Strawberry Agribusiness in Mexico and Socialist Development Experiences.

The basic theme is that it is necessary to examine the division of labour by sex in order to understand the underlying structure of gender and of women's status. The nontechnical style, the breadth of coverage and the emphasis on first-hand materials will prompt future research.

Women and Shelter Kit

produced by the Joint United Nations Information Committee and the NGO Programme Group on Women, available from the Branch for the Advancement of Women, Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria

An extremely rich resource, this plastic-bound loose leaf folder contains a wealth of information in different forms. It addresses the following questions: How can the issue of homeless women, as a distinct policy domain, be placed on the national political agenda? And why should it be? Are the housing needs of women different from those of men? Is it mainly a problem of women's difficult access to shelter, or is there a complex web of social and economic issues determining that there is, quite simply, less shelter for women?

Supported by a large number of good black-and-white photographs, the articles are well-written and very wide ranging. Some of them are quite gripping in the details which they provide from little- known societies.

North America

Academic Women Working Towards Equality

by Angela Simeone, Bergin and Garvey Publishers Inc, 670 Amherst Road, South Hadley, Massachusetts 01075 USA

This book explores women's current status and gains over the past twenty years, reminding us that much still needs to be done - despite the great strides made by the feminist movement, affirmative action laws, and the presumed progressiveness of colleges and universities.

The author combines candid interviews with research on faculty women over the past two decades to show the profound impact of institutional sexism on women's careers.