Offering a wide-ranging selection of case studies, this book evaluates women's political, social and economic involvement in Third World countries. It explores both specific experiences of women as well as common themes such as identity, empowerment and the conflict between tradition and modernity.

Introduction, Shirin M. Rai, Geraldine Lievesley; Chapter 1 Women and the State in the Third World: Some Issues for Debate, Shirin M. Rai; Chapter 2 Should Women Give Up on the State? – The African Experience, Ann Stewart; Chapter 3 Stages of Growth? – Women Dealing with the State and Each Other in Peru, Geraldine Lievesley; Chapter 4 State-Building in the Absence of State Structures: Palestinian Women in the Occupied Territories and Shi’i Women in Lebanon, Maria Holt; Chapter 5 En-Gendering the Nation-State: Women, Patriarchy and Politics in Algeria, Malika Mehdid; Chapter 6 Democratization, Feminism and the State in Chile: The Establishment of SERNAM, Georgina Waylen; Chapter 7 Dis/Organizing Gender: Women Development Agents in State and NGO Poverty-Reduction Programmes in Bangladesh, Anne Marie Goetz; Chapter 8 Working from Within: Women and the State in the Development of the Courtyard Economy in Rural China, Tamara Jacka; Chapter 9 Women, Migration and the State, Annie Phizacklea;