About the Book

The spread and consolidation of the women‘s movement in North and South over the past 30 years looks set to shape the course of social progress over the next generation. Peggy Antrobus asks

• Where are women now in the struggle against gender inequality?

• What are the common issues that they face around the world?

• What challenges confront the women‘s movements?

• And what strategies are needed to meet them?

The author draws on her long experience of feminist activism to set women‘s movements in their changing national and global context. Her analysis will be an invaluable aid to reflection and action for the next generation of women as they carry through the unfinished business of women‘s emancipation.

Commendations

"In The Global Women‘s Movement, Antrobus gives us rich historical background, insightful personal reflection, and a keen analysis of the challenges that lie ahead for women‘s global organizing. This is a must read for all activists, policy makers and scholars who care about the future of equity and justice in the world." - Charlotte Bunch, Founder and Executive Director, Center for Women‘s Global Leadership, Rutgers University

"This reflection on the international women‘s movement by one of its most important leaders is both timely and stimulating. Locating its origins in the quest for broader social justice, Peggy Antrobus examines this movement over three decades. She makes the case that if our movement is to continue to find solutions to the problems of human security and well-being, we must deal as seriously with issues of race and class as we do with patriarchy." - Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM

"This is a fascinating book where the researcher and the activist come together to tell the history of a revolutionary movement that changed the way we think about gender and sexuality, social justice and human rights, the political economy and power. The author has the authority of someone who was an active participant in many major events of that history." - Carmen Barroso, Regional Director, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region

"This is a breath-taking attempt at documenting the challenges and triumphs of the Global Women‘s Movement over the past 30 years, and there are few women in this movement more qualified than Peggy Antrobus to take this on. Peggy brings her immense wealth of experience as a feminist activist, scholar, strategist, thinker and mentor to bear on this book, which is a great resource for women‘s rights activists everywhere." - Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, Executive Director, African Women‘s Development Fund, and President, Association for Women‘s Rights in Development (AWID).

"This book succinctly charts the journey women have made over the years to build on their issues as a global movement capable of promoting and penetrating democratic structures in society and the strategies they have deployed through the language of human rights in order to achieve this. It clarifies the agencies and the structures that have been developed and need further development in order for the process to continue." - Dr Surinder Guru, University of Birmingham

'This is a book for our times: a careful reflection on the growth of the global women's movement, the challenges it faces at this particular conjuncture in international politics and economy, and the possibilities for change now...accessibly written and likely to attract a wide readership. Its particular strength lies in its insider/participant observer perspective, and Antrobus' critical self-reflections...The book should appeal to any feminist engaged in or despairing of contemporary global politics.' - Jan Jindy Pettman, the International Journal of Politics

'I would recommend this book to students of women's studies, political science, labor studies, global studies and the history of social movements as well as to those preparing to work with women in internationality...The depth of Antrobus' commitment to social justice, and in particular to the development of women and socio-economic equity within the Caribbean, resonates throughout.' - Patricia A. Carter, Studies in Continuing Education

Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Global Women‘s Movement: Definitions and Local Origins
3. Global Contexts for an Emerging Movement: The UN Development Decades, 1960s - 1970s
4. A Decade for Women: UN Conferences (1975-1985)
5. The Lost Decade - the 1980s
6. It‘s About Justice: Feminist Leadership Making a Difference on the World Stage
7. Political Strategies and Dynamics of Women‘s Organising and Feminist Activism
8. The New Context, Challenges and Dilemmas for the Future
9. Leadership for Moving Forward
Conclusion
10. Epilogue: Is Another World Possible?

About the Author

Peggy Antrobus has been employed in government and NGO programmes in St.Vincent, Jamaica and Barbados. Since 1974, when she was appointed as Advisor on Women's Affairs to the Government of Jamaica, she has worked in the field of Women in Development. In 1987 she set up the Women and Development Unit (WAND) within the School of Continuing Studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and was its head until her retirement in 1995. She was a founding member of CAFRA (the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action) and DAWN, the network of Third World women promoting Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era. Over the years she was increasingly drawn to activism in the women's movement as her feminist consciousness and commitment deepened.