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Books

Nickie Charles (2002) Gender in Modern Britain, Oxford: Oxford University Press

explores changing gender relations in Britain since the second world war, and the way in which such changes have been understood sociologically. It discussed crucial issues such as paid employment, domestic labour, parenting, education, the 'crisis' of masculinity, sexuality and politics - mapping the way gender intersects with other dimensions of inequality such as class and ethnicity.

Contents: 1. Theorising gender 2. Gender at work 3. Families and households 4. Gendered Parenting 5. Schooling - it's a girls' world 6. Young men and the crisis of masculinity 7. Sexuality, power and gender 8. Gendering politics 9. Britain in international context

Nickie Charles (2000) Feminism, the State and Social Policy, Basingstoke: Macmillan

Feminist social movements of the 1960s and 70s demanded radical change and an end to women's oppression. They aimed their demands at the state, thereby recognising that the state had the power to change policies. This book explores whether feminist social movements have been effective in bringing about social change. It looks at the engagement of feminist social movements with different states in different societies, the way states influence the emergence of feminist social movements and the form they take. It explores how policies have changed and how much of this change is due to social movement acitivity.

Contents: 1. Theorising the state 2. Theorising social movements 3. Social movements and policy change 4. The emergence of second wave feminism 5. Equal Opportunities 6. Poverty       7. Violence 8. Abortion 9. The family 10. Conclusions

Nickie Charles and Helen Hintjens (1998) Gender, Ethnicity and Political Ideologies, London: Routledge

develops a feminist perspective on nationalism, religious fundamentalism, inter-ethnic conflict and processes of democratisation. It explores the way that political ideologies use women as symbols of cultural identity and discusses inter-ethnic confglict in former Yugoslavia, the emergence of a 'male democracy' in Chile, women's rights in Israel, the far right and women in France and the experience of immigrants in Britain. It is a revealing study of women's involvement with restrictive political ideologies and demonstrates the importance of a feminist politics that enables women to understand and work with each other across the boundaries that divide them.

 

Nickie Charles and Felicia Hughes-Freeland (eds) (1996) Practising Feminism - Identity, Difference, Power, London: Routledge

The contributors explore different ways of practising feminism and their effect on gendered identities. They argue that gender differences are not conceptualised as division in all societies, exploring the similarities and differences in women's experiences in various countries. This book is an important contribution to the neglected middle ground between postmodernism's deconstruction of unified subjectivity and the continued feminist concern with agency and the validity of experience.

 

Nickie Charles and Marion Kerr (1988) Women, Food and Families,  Manchester: Manchester University Press

looks in detail at how women with young families plan, provide, cook and serve food, from daily meals to special occasions. It explores the role played by food in relationships between women and men, parents and children within contemporary British families, and the contradictory and often problematic nature of women's own feelings towards food. It documents the differential distribution of food within families along lines of gender and age and shows that social class has a significant impact on diet. It illustrates the way that practices surrounding food provision both reflect and create social divisions, and that food conveys complex messages about power and status, love and anger, inclusion and exclusion.

Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Proper meals: proper families 3. Woman's work 4.  Women and men 5. Women and children 6. Women, health and diet 7. Women and food: friend or enemy? 8. Class and food provision 9. Class, food consumption and hospitality 10 Conclusions