Globalizing Feminisms, 1789-19452009

This definitive Reader presents a coherent, comprehensive, comparative, and much-needed collective history of women’s activism throughout the world.

Including key pieces on the history of feminism from an international group of scholars, the book charts feminists’ attempts to restore a balance of power between the sexes against a backdrop of huge cultural, social and political transitions across the world. The collection covers the period from the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 – a turning point that gave rise to practical efforts to embody principles of rights, liberty, and equality on behalf of women as well as men – up until the end of World War II. The chapters reach out well beyond Europe and the Americas to examine the history of feminisms in Japan, India, China, the...