All over the world, women are organizing to improve their status in society and to better their health and health care. Women's activism is rooted in the global context of resource inequities between the North and the South and among genders, races, and classes within countries. Women fight for better health services and struggle with the pharmaceutical industry, and their responses to the violence they experience are at the very heart of their health movements. Most women organize first around demands for reproductive rights, and then expand to question care for the mentally ill, disabled, and malnourished.

"This anthology gives a historically aware overview of the political and economic issues facing African women since Independence. It incorporates gender and transnational theory in its theoretical discussion of African women from the perspective of political economy. The three main themes are African feminism, women and work, and women and politics. The issue of women's control over labor is central, as is a comparative perspective of women's political movements. Written by Africans and Africanists, this significant and much-needed work is an examination of these themes and a critical evaluation of materialist thought on the political and economic aspects of African women's studies"--Provided by publisher.

This is an introduction to the women's health movements and what is being accomplished by women organizing to achieve better health care around the world.

This book will present three main themes of African women: African feminism, women and work, and women and politics, to inform readers of the current debates, to encourage new thinking on these issues, and to indicate areas for needed research.