Full Description
First published in 1984, Women and the Public Sphere is a collection of essays which challenges the argument that a woman's sphere is private with relation to politics, and shows it to be profoundly mistaken. The authors demonstrate how all the traditions of political analysis have failed to take into account women's capacity for political action and thought, and argue for a reconstruction of political analysis which recognizes the importance of gender. The essays are written from different political perspectives, and at different points in time. They span critique and reconstruction, pinpointing problems within the traditional literature, as well as challenging its conceptual framework. This engaging volume will have strong appeal for courses in gender studies, political science and sociology.
Contents
List of Tables Acknowledgements Preface General introduction 1. Introduction 2. Male and female: job versus gender models in the sociology of work 3. Industrial radicalism and the domestic division of labour 4. Workers side by side: women and the trade union movement 5. Militancy and acquiescence among women workers 6. Women as employees: social consciousness and collective action 7. Unions: the men's affair? 8. Unity is strength? Feminism and the labour movement 9. Introduction 10. Politics an unnatural practice: political science looks at female participation 11. Women: if not apolitical, then conservative 12. Women and voting in Britain 13. The party identifications of women: Parkin put to the test 14. Candidate evaluations by men and women 15. Gender, levels of political thinking and political action 16. Women in positions of political leadership in Britain, France and West Germany 17. Beyond leadership 18. The politics of private woman and public man Notes and references Index
