Market, State and Feminism, criticizes the free market backlash that is based on core principles about how markets work, how individual agents behave and how the state influences the functioning of a market economy. The book powerfully refutes the view that free market economics can improve the status and well-being of women. Carlos Maya-Ambía, Review of Poltical Economy . the book offers a very good introduction to left-liberal feminist critiques of neoclassical economics and to comparative Western social policies toward women in the workforce. Its accessibility should make it a good general resource for many students and an excellent addition to undergraduate college library collections. Ann Jennings, Journal of Economic Issues Market, State and Feminism offers an inter-disciplinary critique of the free market backlash the belief that free market economics can improve the position, status and well-being of women. The authors argue that, far from being restrictive and intrusive, state action can enhance the individual s ability to make responsible choices. This book questions the philosophical basis of free market feminism, challenging its masculine assumptions about rationality and individualism.

The authors critically examine the theoretical validity of dichotomising the market versus the state and draw attention to the richness of the interdependence between markets and state institutions. Empirical and case study material is drawn from the UK, the European Union and the United States and illuminates the issues of equal employment opportunities and pay, girls education performance, business attitudes to women, lobbying by women s groups and equal opportunities legislation.