Maxine Deirdre Molyneux CMG (born 24 May 1948 in Karachi, Pakistan) is a British sociologist whose work focuses on the women's movement. [1]
That women's interests and gender interests are different categories is the discovery for which Maxine Molyneux is most frequently cited. Her focus is women's movements, and her central question is how they and the state influence each other. Interests and law are the categories under which she examines the changeable and shapeable relationship of the gender order and the state. She wants to bring back the state and the political subject into the thinking on modernisation, democratisation and development.
Molyneux studied sociology at the University of Essex and is now Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute of the Americas, University College London. Her research, as well the influential distinction between gender needs and interests, deals with such subjects as society and development, poverty and social inequality, and gender and politics in Latin America. She is also a consultant to several United Nations organisations, as well as to Oxfam and other NGOs. As co-founder in 1979 of the noted magazine Feminist Review and an editor of the magazine Economy and Society , she is involved in the further development of debates on theory. [2]
Molyneux was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to international development and UK/Latin America relations. [3]
Molyneux was married to Fred Halliday, with whom she had a son, Alex. [1] [4]
Molyneux has written extensively in the fields of political sociology and gender and development studies. She is the author among others of:
She has co-authored:
She is co-editor of:
Anarchist feminism is a system of analysis which combines the principles and power analysis of anarchist theory with feminism. It closely resembles intersectional feminism. Anarcha-feminism generally posits that patriarchy and traditional gender roles as manifestations of involuntary coercive hierarchy should be replaced by decentralized free association. Anarcha-feminists believe that the struggle against patriarchy is an essential part of class conflict and the anarchist struggle against the state and capitalism. In essence, the philosophy sees anarchist struggle as a necessary component of feminist struggle and vice versa. L. Susan Brown claims that "as anarchism is a political philosophy that opposes all relationships of power, it is inherently feminist".
Feminist sociology is an interdisciplinary exploration of gender and power throughout society. Here, it uses conflict theory and theoretical perspectives to observe gender in its relation to power, both at the level of face-to-face interaction and reflexivity within social structures at large. Focuses include sexual orientation, race, economic status, and nationality.
Simon Frederick Peter Halliday was an Irish writer and academic specialising in International Relations and the Middle East, with particular reference to the Cold War, Iran, and the Arabian peninsula.
The Luisa Amanda Espinoza Association of Nicaraguan Women was initially established in 1977 under the name Association of Women Concerned about National Crisis. AMPRONAC was part of the Sandinista (FSLN) network which was set on bringing down the Anastasio Somoza Debayle regime in 1979. Shortly after the fall of Somoza, AMPRONAC change its name to AMNLAE, after Luisa Amanda Espinoza, the first women to die in the war against Somoza, but remained closely connected to the FSLN as their slogan suggests: "No revolution without women's emancipation: no emancipation without revolution."
Deniz Kandiyoti is an author and an academic of research in the fields of gender relations and developmental politics in the Middle East, specifically Turkey. She holds a PhD from London School of Economics.
Bina Agarwal is an Indian development economist and Professor of Development Economics and Environment at the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester. She has written extensively on land, livelihoods and property rights; environment and development; the political economy of gender; poverty and inequality; legal change; and agriculture and technological transformation.
Diane Rosemary Elson is a British economist, sociologist and gender and development social scientist. She is Professor Emerita of sociology at the University of Essex and a former professor of development studies at the University of Manchester.
Virginia Bolten was an Argentine journalist as well as an anarchist and feminist activist of German descent. A gifted orator, she is considered as a pioneer in the struggle for women's rights in Argentina. She was deported to Uruguay in 1902, where she remained until her death.
A variety of movements of feminist ideology have developed over the years. They vary in goals, strategies, and affiliations. They often overlap, and some feminists identify themselves with several branches of feminist thought.
Sex differences in social capital are debated differences between men and women's ability to achieve their aims through social constructs such as trust, norms and networks. Social capital is often seen as the missing link in development. Social networks facilitate access to resources and protect the commons, whilst co-operation makes markets work more efficiently. Social capital has been thought of as women's capital as whereas there are gendered barriers to accessing economic capital, women's role in family, and community ensures that they have strong networks. There is potential that the concept can help to bring women's unpaid 'community and household labour', vital to survival and development, to the attention of economists. However, research analysing social capital from a gendered perspective is rare, and the notable exceptions are very critical.
Fatima Sadiqi is a senior professor of Linguistics and Gender Studies at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, in Fez, Morocco.
Naila Kabeer is an Indian-born British Bangladeshi social economist, research fellow, writer and Professor at the London School of Economics. She was also president of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) from 2018 to 2019. She is on the editorial committee of journals such as Feminist Economist, Development and Change, Gender and Development, Third World Quarterly and the Canadian Journal of Development Studies. She works primarily on poverty, gender and social policy issues. Her research interests include gender, poverty, social exclusion, labour markets and livelihoods, social protection, focused on South and South East Asia.
Farida Shaheed is a Pakistani sociologist and feminist human rights activist. In 2012, she was appointed the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. She heads the Shirkat Gah women's resource centre in Pakistan, and is known for her extensive work on gender and class analysis, both in Pakistan and more globally.
Kathleen Staudt is a former professor of political science at the University of Texas at El Paso, where she held an endowed professorship for western hemispheric trade policy studies. Her courses focused on topics such as public policy, borders, democracy, leadership and civic engagement, and women and politics. After retiring on September 1, 2017, she became Professor Emerita.
Latin American feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and achieving equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for Latin American women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. People who practice feminism by advocating or supporting the rights and equality of women are feminists.
Multiracial feminist theory is promoted by women of color, including Black, Latina, Asian, Native American, and anti-racist white women. In 1996, Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thornton Dill wrote “Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism," a piece emphasizing intersectionality and the application of intersectional analysis in feminist discourse.
Raka Ray is an American sociologist and academic. She is a full-time professor at the University of California, Berkeley in the departments of Sociology and Southeast Asian Studies. She became the Dean of Social Sciences at UC-Berkeley in January 2020. Ray's research interests include gender and feminist theory, postcolonial sociology, emerging middle classes, South Asia, inequality, qualitative research methods, and social movements. Her current project explores changes in the meanings and relations of servitude in India. Ray is also an editor of the publication Feminist Studies.
Elizabeth Bernstein is an American sociologist who is noted for her studies that focus on women, gender, and sexuality. She is also a professor at Columbia University's Barnard College.
Shahra Razavi is an Iranian-born academic and senior United Nations official specialising in gender and social development. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Oxford University, Razavi is currently Director of the Social Protection Department of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland.
Carmen Diana Deere is an American feminist economist who is an expert on land policy and agrarian reform, rural social movements, and gender in Latin American development. She has conducted extensive research on access to land, economic autonomy of rural women, and property rights in Latin America. Deere's research and work, often carried out with Magdalena León de Leal, have contributed to promoting the changes that have taken place since 1980 in the vast majority of countries in Latin America with respect to the reform of land laws, civil codes, and family matters, as well as the approval of new legislation that recognizes the equal rights of women and men, including their property rights. Deere is Professor Emeritus of Latin American studies and Food Resources Economics at the University of Florida and Professor Emeritus of FLACSO-Ecuador. She was honored with the Silvert Award in 2018.