Matriliny and Modernity (1996) explores the situation both past and present of women living in the matrilineal society of Negeri Sembilan in a rapidly modernising Malaysia. Written from a feminist anthropological viewpoint, it considers how far both the colonial and post-colonial remakings of matrilineal cultural practices within modernity have left women with what many western feminists would call a degree of social agency if not autonomy. Maila Stivens looks critically at the appropriateness of such judgements, at the same time reflecting on the ways that western knowledge production and the continuing importance of images of exotic matriarchies in the western imagination have shaped debates about such societies. As well as appealing to those with an interest in issues of gender-and-development, Asian Studies and women’s situation in modernising societies, the book’s explanation of the past and present of relatively more egalitarian gender arrangements also contributes to wider debates about causes of sexual inequality and the possibilities for gender equality.

In recent years, the slogan "women's rights are human rights" has become a central claim of the of the global women's movement. Human Rights and Gender Politics: Asia-Pacific Perspectives examines the critical issues raised by this embracing and expansion of the human rights discourse by feminists worldwide.
This volume challenges the conventional, ungendered and male-centred analysis of the politics of human rights and addresses the future of global feminisms. It is essential reading for all those interested in learning more about human rights and women's rights in the Asia-Pacific region.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415164710