The Political Economy of Families, Work and Globalization

An interdisciplinary reader of scholarship relevant to feminist political economy, the selections in this book cover such themes as: feminism and the history of economic thought, the function and consequences of the gender division of labor in the household, the significance of unpaid and caring labor, women’s position in paid labor, the feminization of poverty and welfare state policies, gender and the global economy, and gender in the informal sector. These selections will provide a sophisticated context for understanding the major issues in feminist economics.

The book is unique in three distinct ways. First, it collects essays from several disciplinary perspectives including feminist economics, sociology, history, philosophy, and political science. Second, it addresses issues from both the industrialized countries and the global South. Third, it covers the major themes in feminist economics ranging from discussions of the family, welfare policies, waged work, caring labor, and globalization. The comprehensive survey provided by this volume makes it quite different from any other existing reader or edited volume