Women's Movements in Asia

Feminisms and Transnational Activism

Mina Roces, Louise Edwards

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780415487023
• eBook ISBN: 9781136967993
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Women's Movements in Asia is a comprehensive study of women's activism across Asia. With chapters written by leading international experts, it provides a full overview of the history of feminism, as well as the current context of the women's movement in 12 countries: the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Japan, Burma, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Korea, India and Pakistan.

For each of these countries the manner in which feminism changes according to cultural, political, economic and religious factors is explored. The contributors investigate how national feminisms are influenced by transnational factors, such as the women's movements in other countries, colonialism and international agencies. Each chapter also considers what Asian feminists have contributed to global theoretical debates on the woman question, the key successes and failures of the movements and what needs to be addressed in the future.

This breadth of coverage, together with suggestions for further reading and watching, and an integrated cross-national timeline makes Women's Movements in Asia ideal for use on courses looking at women and feminism in Asia. It will appeal both to students and specialists in the fields of gender, women's and Asian studies.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Contributors
• 1 Asian feminisms
• 2 Feminism and the women’s movement in the world’s largest Islamic nation
• 3 Rethinking ‘the Filipino woman’
• 4 Chinese feminism in a transnational frame
• 5 Transnational networks and localized campaigns
• 6 Crossing boundaries
• 7 Feminism, Buddhism and transnational women’s movements in Thailand
• 8 Following the trail of the fairy-bird
• 9 The Hong Kong women’s movement
• 10 Military rule, religious fundamentalism, women’s empowerment and feminism in Pakistan
• 11 Mapping a hundred years of activism
• 12 ‘Riding a buffalo to cross a muddy field’
• 13 Rights talk and the feminist movement in India
• Index