Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay and Navsharan Singh (ed.). Gender Justice, Citizenship and Development.

Iftikhar, Henna

Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay and Navsharan Singh (ed.). Gender Justice, Citizenship and Development. New Delhi and Ottawa: Zubaan/International Development Research Centre. 2007. 358 pages. Softbound. Price not given.

The introduction by Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay brings together the major issues, which are multidisciplinary in nature. The feminist scholars provide new insights for advocacy and research. The objective of this book is to explore the meaning of gender justice followed by citizenship and the state as shaped by specific histories, culture, and struggle. The book is divided into three parts. The first part is the concept of gender justice concerning current thinking of gender equality that the citizenship contributes to law and development. Chapter 2, by Anne Marie Goetz, titled "Gender Justice, Citizenship, and Entitlements", is about the understanding of gender justice in the context of citizenship, entitlement, rights, law, and development. The second part provides the context of the struggle for gender justice and citizenship, and presents four regional perspectives. Chapter 3 discusses the importance of gender justice in Latin America and the Caribbean based on the review of scholars, policies adopted by the states, and advocacy literature. The author states that there are three characteristics shared by women in their struggle for equal rights across the regions; the first is the demand of gender justice, the second is reworking the ideas of 'active citizenship', and the third is an understanding of citizenship. Chapter 4, titled "Challenging the Liberal Subject: Law and Gender Justice in South Asia" by Ratna Kapur, presents the key literature in the area of gender justice and violence against women. He analyses the practice of citizenship rights that have emerged in South Asia through the colonial regime and taken shape in the post-colonial era of nation states. Chapter 5 presents an overview of gender justice, citizenship, and entitlement in Sub-Saharan region. The author emphasises the adoption of a neutral definition like "empowerment of both men and women" to lead gender mainstreaming. The author identifies the areas where the rights of women are denied. The "Unequal Citizen" issue in Middle East and North Africa, by Mounira Maya Charrad, defines gender justice. It discusses whether that the state reform towards gender equality depends on the state power as autonomous or as derived from a particular group of society. The third part highlights polices and steps to be taken by the governments and organisations on the strategic issues of gender and citizenship rights. The last chapter, titled "Situating Gender and Citizenship in Development Debates: Towards a Strategy" emphasises new areas of research, which are missing in the theoretical framework, and explores how public polices can best be used to empower all citizens.