Theorizing Feminist Policy (Gender and Politics) [Paperback]

Amy G. Mazur (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0199246726 | ISBN-13: 978-0199246724 | Publication Date: April 18, 2002 | Edition: First Edition

Theorizing Feminist Policy avoids the usual clash between feminist analysis and non-feminist social science in mapping out the new field of feminist comparative policy. Instead, it intersects empirical feminist policy analysis with non-feminist policy studies to define and contribute to this new and emerging field of study. Consulting a wide sweep of empirical and theoretical work, the book first defines Feminist Comparative Policy showing how it dialogs with the adjacent non-feminist areas of Comparative Public Policy, Comparative Politics, and Public Policy Studies. It then seeks then to strengthen one of the weakest links of this new area - the study of explicitly feminist government action. In the remaining chapters, the books defines feminist policy as a separate sector, with eight sub sectors. It develops a qualitative and comparative framework for analysing the profiles and styles of feminist policy in post industrial democracies and uses the framework to examine twenty seven different cases of feminist policy formation across thirteen different countries.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This well researched and innovative book will make an important contribution to the task of gendering political science and is a valuable addition to the literature on state feminism and gendered policy-making as well as public policy in general. It will be useful to anyone interested in understanding feminist policy-making success (and failure) in post-industrial societies. West European Politics ... a well thought-through and sophisticated attempt to analyse feminist public policy in 13 Western democracies. West European Politics ... an extraordinary resource and a highly imaginative approach. Political Studies Review The sheer wealth of material drawn upon is staggering and the book is clearly invaluable as a guide to what is going on in the different countries under the various policy headings. Political Studies Review ... offers a complex framework for analysing feminist comparative policy (FCP). Political Studies Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Amy Mazur is an Associate Professor, Political Science, Washington State University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition edition (April 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199246726
• ISBN-13: 978-0199246724
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,302,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A new approach to policy formation, December 31, 2004

By 

A. K. Sachariah "women's studies phenom" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Theorizing Feminist Policy (Gender and Politics) (Paperback)

Amy Mazur contributes the first feminist perspective on the policy formation process, a field dominated by traditional male theorists who take gender for granted. Political science is changing as new gender, ethnic, and other social groups are being accounted for in theories that never considered the human factor. This departure from traditional political science adds to our understanding of why governments do what they do and how that affects the citizens it governs. Mazur creates a framework for evaluating how governments have progressed with women's concerns, since the second wave feminist movement made these concerns mainstream. This book is mainly academic, serving political science and women's studies. As a grad student in this field, Mazur's book was enormously helpful to me. It would be helpful for undergrads and non-academic policy wonks as well, because she only spends the first couple of chapters laying out the theory, and the rest of the book looking at practical examples in different sectors of women's issues (reproductive rights, employment law, political representation,etc.) The caveat is that this theory has only been applied and created with western, developed countries in mind. Whether this theory can be applied to lesser developed countries and the Global South still needs to be examined. But its a start in the right direction, and political science definitely needs more contributions from female theorists, so it will be interesting to see how influential this book will be.