Women in Asia: Tradition, Modernity and Globalisation

Description

This study surveys the transformation in the status of women since 1970 in a range of diverse nations: Malaysia; China; Indonesia; Singapore; the Philippines; India; Taiwan; Vietnam; Hong Kong; Korea; Japan; and Burma. Within these case studies, the book explores being women, Asian and modern in contemporary Asia. Social changes in women's place in society are untangled in recognition that not all change is "progress" and that not all modernity enhances women's status. The authors suggest that the improvements in women's status within the Asian region vary dramatically according to the manner in which women interact with the particular economic and ideological forces in each nation. Each contributor has focused on a particular country in his or her area of expertise and presents innovative arguments relating to the problem of "being women" in Asia during a period of dramatic social and political changes. Each national case study explores key social and economic markers of women's status such as employment rates, wage differentials, literacy rates and participation in politics or business. The effects of population control programmes, legislation on domestic violence and female infanticide, and women's role in the family and the workforce are also discussed. The book poses questions as to how women have negotiated these shifts and, in the process, created a "modern" Asian woman. Specialists from a variety of disciplines, including history, anthropology, sociology, demography, gender studies and psychology grapple with the complexities and ambivalences presented by the multiple faces of the modern Asian woman. Complete with a list of recommended readings and a website with links to electronic resources, the book should be of interest to undergraduate students of Asian studies and women's studies, as well as scholars and postgraduate students interested in comparative women's studies.

Editors LOUISE EDWARDS and MINA ROCES have published widely on women in China and women in the Philippines respectively. They have both lived and worked in Asia for numerous years and currently lecture on women in Asia at the Australian Catholic University and University of New South Wales respectively. The majority of the contributors are international authorities in the field of women's status.