'The authors of this volume argue that 'there is torment and strife in many parts of the world' and that 'development has failed the Third World'. Indeed, most of us will agree with them. Using different 'The authors of this volume argue that "there is torment and strife in many parts of the world" and that "development has failed the Third World". Indeed, most of us will agree with them. Using different perspectives, they also argue that this failure is due to "a misguided emphasis on modernization strategies". Instead, they focus on the need for a new paradigm in development studies in which women and the significance of culture are central. In doing so, they raise key questions for the urgent task of rethinking development for the 21st century.' - Lourdes Beneria, Professor of City and Regional Planning and Women's Studies and Director, Gender and Global Change Program, Cornell University 'A powerful critique combined with a framework for a new paradigm linking women, culture and development that draws from richly textured analysis of environment, sexuality, science and technology and cultures of representation. This is an exciting new book.' - Gita Sen, Sir Ratan Tata Chair Professor, Indian Institute of Management 'Feminist Futures takes us on a journey that bounds over the barriers long artificially separating women's studies from development and cultural studies. I have had my eyes opened both by these engaging, often surprising, individual chapters and by Bhavnani's, Foran's and Kurian's splendid formatting of these writers in a fashion that challenges us to think new thoughts about the dynamic interactions between culture and gender.' - Cynthia Enloe, author of Bananas, Beaches and Bases 'Feminist Futures challenges established approaches to development, which continue to privilege the politico-economic aspects. The collection argues for a new paradigm that places women and gender at the centre, puts culture on a par with political economy and pays attention to critical practices, pedagogies and movements for social justice. Feminist Futures brings scholars engaged in development, feminist and cultural studies together from around the world, encouraging them to cross boundaries and break new ground. The resulting collection highlights the power of this new approach, particularly its fusion of political economy and cultural analysis. As such it demonstrates that the (re-)articulation of identities is as central to social change and development as political and economic transformations. This path-breaking book should be required reading for those who are determined to resist the dark face of neoliberal globalization, to create a more just world and to transform development into more than an empty practice designed to placate and discipline the poor in an increasingly unequal world.' - Marianne H. Marchand, Universidad de las Americas-Puebla, and Universiteit van Amsterdam, and Jane L. Parpart, Dalhousie University. Co-editors of Feminism/Postmodernism/Development 'The range and diversity of these contributors make this volume a collection that cannot be ignored, one useful to teachers in any of the fields it covers. The audacious framework put forward by the three editors aspires to nothing less than a complete paradigm shift in the development industry, demanding that a renewed focus on women and culture inform and transform development. This requires a concerted intellectual engagement across three paradigmatically distinct fields - cultural studies, feminist studies and development studies - each of them already defiant towards classical academic disciplines, but differently so... This is not a volume for the faint-hearted or the tired scholar, but for those who will be energized and stimulated to contribute further to the radical rethinking demanded by the failure of technocratic, twentieth century approaches to development.' - Professor Amina Mama, Chair in Gender Studies, African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town, and author of Beyond the Masks: Race, Gender & Subjectivity and The Hidden Struggle: Statutory and Voluntary Sector Responses to Violence Against Black Women 'This is a truly exciting collection which successfully integrates some critical concerns of feminist studies and cultural studies to present a fresh perspective on Third World development.' - Bina Agarwal, Professor of Economics, University of Delhi 'This new volume will stimulate and challenge students of feminist studies, cultural studies, and critical development studies. Culture -- and especially the lived experiences of Third World Women -- are the lens through which issues such as sexuality, environment, technology, and the politics of repres
