Feminist theory has grown into a vast field. Feminist writers, thinkers, and activists have produced an often bewildering body of knowledge concerned with difference and diversity, identity and inequality, ethnicity, race, and class, as well as gender. Despite its growing influence, however, no single comprehensive text encompasses the past, present, and future of feminist theory.

"Contemporary Feminist Theories" was inspired by a dissatisfaction with existing introductions, which often fail to fully track change and capture diversity within feminist thought. The volume draws on the expertise of a range of Western feminists in order to reflect the breadth of feminist theory as well as shifts within it. Each chapter maps the development of feminist thought in a particular area over time, and suggests future directions.

Reflecting the diversity of feminist theory in fields from literature and linguistics to science and politics, this multi-disciplinary map of feminist thinking is an ideal classroom text.

The contributors include Lisa Adkins, Vicki Bertram, Deborah Cameron, Elizabeth Frazer, Caroline Gonda, Penelope Harvey, Maggie Humm, Kadiatu Kanneh, Mary Maynard, Sara Mills, Jane Scoular, Sue Thornham, Sue Vice, and Patricia Waugh.

This Reader brings together a broad range of critical work on on the everday practices and power relations of domestic consumption -drawing on material from sociology, women's studies and media and cultural studies. The book is divided into five main sections - on economics, food and clothing, leisure and media reception, household technologies, and the construction of home - and its selected contributions examine the social dynamics of gender: generation, class and ethnicity.

This book offers a comparative study of the lives of young adult women and their mothers in Hong Kong and Britain. Set against the backdrop of debates regarding the consequences of late modern social change for family and intimate life, the authors consider the challenges of exploring these issues across differing cultures. The book focuses on a range of topics including: mother-daughter relationships; romantic, sexual and marital relationship trajectories; and the imagined futures of daughters. Throughout, it is argued that differences between Hong Kong and Britain are not attributable merely to local culture and tradition, but are the consequence of wider social, economic and political conditions through which cultural continuity and change are mediated. Women Doing Intimacy will be of interest to students and scholars of family life and gender studies.

This reader offers students an informed overview of some of the most significant sociological work on gender produced over the last three decades. The readings cover both theoretical and empirical work representing a range of perspectives and each section includes selections which address the intersection of gender with differences of 'race', class and sexuality. Forty-eight readings are organised into six sections:
* gender and knowledge
* class, gender and the labour market
* paid and unpaid work
* marriage and intimate relationships
* gendered embodiment.
In order to guide students through the issues, the book has a substantial critical introduction exploring the history of sociological analyses of gender, as well as introductions to each section and editorial commentary on the readings themselves. Suggestions for further reading and questions of discussion are also included in each section.

With heterosexuality currently being examined more rigorously than ever before, this accessible and engaging book charts the development of feminist and sociological theorizing on sexuality and the emergence of a radical critique of heterosexuality. Stevi Jackson reviews a range of important theoretical and substantive issues, and she demonstrates an important shift in feminist thinking from an emphasis on male dominance within heterosexual relations to a critical perspective on heterosexuality itself. Her book will be relevant to scholars and students in the fields of women's studies, lesbian and gay studies and the sociology of sexuality.

This Reader brings together a broad range of critical work on on the everday practices and power relations of domestic consumption -drawing on material from sociology, women's studies and media and cultural studies. The book is divided into five main sections - on economics, food and clothing, leisure and media reception, household technologies, and the construction of home - and its selected contributions examine the social dynamics of gender: generation, class and ethnicity.

This Reader provides students with a comprehensive selection of readings covering a range of key issues in women's studies which are representative of the diversity of current feminist thinking. Designed as a text for classroom use, the Reader is divided into 15 sections reflecting primary topic areas within women's studies.

A comprehensive overview of feminist debates surrounding sexuality identifying the main theoretical positions and trends. Contributors include Judith Butler, bell hooks, Luce Irigaray, Catherine MacKinnon, Adrienne Rich, Gayle Rubin, Judith Walkowitz and Monique Wittig.

.,."No mere collection, but a wonderful synthesis of some of the best and most representative works of modern feminist scholarship, reflecting the richness and diversity of contemporary women's studies. It provides an informative and empowering perspective on feminist scholarly achievements of the last decades."
--Dale Spender, Founding member of WITS (Women, Information, Technology, and Scholarship), is author of more than 30 books, including "Feminist Theorists: Three Centuries of Key Women Thinkers" and "For The Record: the Making and Meaning of Feminist Knowledge."

"A stimulating introduction to women's studies and a really useful teaching tool."
--Mary Ellen Brown, Television and Women's Culture

"Women's Studies: Essential Readings" provides a wide range of readers with an entirely comprehensive selection of ever 140 readings on women's studies, representing the entire diversity of current feminist thinking. The book is a divided into fourteen sections that reflect primary topics within women's studies, covering theory and perspectives, including: feminist social theory; psychological and psychoanalytic theory; cross-cultural perspectives and historical perspectives, as well as themes such as: education and work; marriage and motherhood; sexuality; the law; crime and deviance; politics and the state; science, medicine and reproductive technology; language and gender; feminist literary criticism; and the media tool

Features: Introductions to each section provide an overview of the main issues and debates. Commentaries on each extract locate the work of individual authors within wider debates and identify the perspective from which they are writing. Each sectioncontains a guide to further reading.

This reader offers students an informed overview of some of the most significant sociological work on gender produced over the last three decades. The readings cover both theoretical and empirical work representing a range of perspectives and each section includes selections which address the intersection of gender with differences of 'race', class and sexuality. Forty-eight readings are organised into six sections:
* gender and knowledge
* class, gender and the labour market
* paid and unpaid work
* marriage and intimate relationships
* gendered embodiment.
In order to guide students through the issues, the book has a substantial critical introduction exploring the history of sociological analyses of gender, as well as introductions to each section and editorial commentary on the readings themselves. Suggestions for further reading and questions of discussion are also included in each section.

This book paints a vivid picture of women's active involvement in reshaping intimate and public sexual life in East Asia. In bringing together exciting new feminist research on sexuality from East Asia and making it available to a wider audience, East Asian Sexualities unsettles stereotypes, rectifies lack of awareness and demonstrates that East Asia matters. The chapters address the diversity and variety of everyday sexual lives and sexual politics in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. They range from workplace sexual cultures, trans-national sexual relations, the conditions of sex-work and the emergence of new sexual desires, cultures and movements. The contributors highlight the gendered and sexual consequences of globalization and rapid social change. In doing so, they engage with western debates on late modernity while also exploring the contested understandings of modernization and westernization in the East. This is a collection which illuminates the local situations in which women's sexual lives are lived and offers fresh perspectives on global issues.

This book surveys and evaluates the sociological contribution to the study of sexuality. It not only maps major theoretical shifts and debates, but also offers a unique examination of the topic that emphasises the sociality of sexuality. In particular, it considers the institutional, biographical and interactional contexts of our sexual lives as well as the cultural significance and everyday practice of sexuality.

The authors contest not only popular understandings of sexuality as natural, but also psychoanalytic explanations and forms of analysis that privilege the cultural construction of sexuality over its everyday social accomplishment. In particular, they challenge the 'specialness' of sexuality within contemporary culture, arguing that sexuality is better understood as a routine part of everyday social life.

The book confronts the anxieties associated with sexuality in the late modern, western world and engages with wider debates on social transformations in late modernity. As such, it provides both an overview of the field of sexuality as well as setting an agenda.

"Theorizing Sexuality" is key reading for students, researchers and academics interested in theories of sexuality, gender and intimacy and anyone concerned with the social conditions that inform our sexual identities.

A comprehensive overview of feminist debates surrounding sexuality identifying the main theoretical positions and trends. Contributors include Judith Butler, bell hooks, Luce Irigaray, Catherine MacKinnon, Adrienne Rich, Gayle Rubin, Judith Walkowitz and Monique Wittig.

This book paints a vivid picture of women's active involvement in reshaping intimate and public sexual life in East Asia. In bringing together exciting new feminist research on sexuality from East Asia and making it available to a wider audience, East Asian Sexualities unsettles stereotypes, rectifies lack of awareness and demonstrates that East Asia matters. The chapters address the diversity and variety of everyday sexual lives and sexual politics in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. They range from workplace sexual cultures, trans-national sexual relations, the conditions of sex-work and the emergence of new sexual desires, cultures and movements. The contributors highlight the gendered and sexual consequences of globalization and rapid social change. In doing so, they engage with western debates on late modernity while also exploring the contested understandings of modernization and westernization in the East. This is a collection which illuminates the local situations in which women's sexual lives are lived and offers fresh perspectives on global issues.

With heterosexuality currently being examined more rigorously than ever before, this accessible and engaging book charts the development of feminist and sociological theorizing on sexuality and the emergence of a radical critique of heterosexuality. Stevi Jackson reviews a range of important theoretical and substantive issues, and she demonstrates an important shift in feminist thinking from an emphasis on male dominance within heterosexual relations to a critical perspective on heterosexuality itself. Her book will be relevant to scholars and students in the fields of women's studies, lesbian and gay studies and the sociology of sexuality.

From bell hooks's incisive look at the scapegoating of black men as archetypal racists to Andrea Dworkin's scathing statement on pornography as violence against women, this anthology is the first to fully represent the range of contemporary perspectives on one of the most fiercely contested areas in feminist thought. In Feminism and Sexuality, the most outspoken feminist voices of our generation are brought toether in one volume. Writings by Adrienne Rich, Judith Butler, Feminists Against Censorship, Catharine MacKinnon, and Cheryl Clarke cover the spectrum of issues that surround this crucial topic. With classic and cutting-edge commentary on pornography, prostitution, sexual violence, young women and sexuality, heterosexuality and lesbianism, sadomasochism, AIDS, and the international sex industry, this is the most comprehensive sourcebook on the major theoretical positions and critical trends surrounding this central feminist issue.