Book reviews

The following books are reviewed.

Between the lines: letters and diaries from elsie inglis's russian unit AUDREY FAWCETT CAHILL, 1999 Edinburgh: The Pentland Press. x + 372 pp., ISBN 1 85821 630 3, £17.00

For Freedom's Sake: the life of Fannie Lou Hamer CHANA KIA LEE, 1999 Urbana: University of Illinois Press, xvi + 225 pp. ISBN 0 252 02151 7

To Keep the Waters Troubled: the life of Ida B. Wells Linda O. McMurry, 1998 New York: Oxford University Press. xvi + 400 pp., ISBN 0 19 508812 3

Telling Women's Lives: narrative inquiries in the history of women's education KATHLEEN WEILER & SUE MIDDLETON (Eds), 1999 Buckingham: Open University Press. x + 166 pp., ISBN 0335 20173 3, paperback, £16.99

Remaking Women: feminism and modernity in the Middle East LILA ABU-LUGHOD (Ed.), 1998 Princeton: Princeton University Press. xi + 287 pp., ISBN 0 691 05792 3, paperback

Women's Writing of the First World War: an anthology ANGELA K. SMITH (Ed.), 2000 Manchester: Manchester University Press. xii + 340 pp., ISBN 0 7190 5072 3, hardback, 0 7190 5073 1, paperback     

frailty and debility

Drawing on empirical research from two focus groups, this article investigates the narratives and discourses that emerged around pregnancy, technology, birth and motherhood. In so doing, the article engages in some long-standing debates within feminism around embodied and maternal subjectivity, agency and identity. Seen here, the focus groups serve initially to remind us of the pervasiveness of gender inequality and the continual ambiguity of, and anxieties around, maternal subjectivity. The focus groups reconfigure these issues through a technological lens, which in turn seems to offer new spaces where agency can be (momentarily, problematically) claimed. This in turn extends existing debates in new directions through the particular framework of technology that is variously figured here as an object, as information and as imaginary digital space. All of these constructions, however, become problematic as they—despite their promises—nevertheless ultimately and profoundly return the women to an emplaced, embodied subjectivity that has been at the heart of feminist debate for so long.     

International practice of Public Legal Education: a missing element in the justice system of Bangladesh

Public Legal Education (PLE) is a recently developed international practice which aims at providing nationwide legal education and information services to the public by way of a variety of innovative methods. Compared to its presence in a number of developed countries, the practice of PLE is not very common in least developed and developing countries such as Bangladesh. However, its impact on the process of legal empowerment could be transformative. This article thus attempts to assess the necessity and the prospect of introducing PLE in Bangladesh. In doing so, the concept of PLE will be analysed first, focusing on the various methods that are applied for its delivery. Considering the presence of comprehensive PLE practices, the PLE framework in two other jurisdictions – Canada and Australia – will then be examined in order to achieve a comparative view on the subject. Upon analysing the relevance of PLE, the article will finally propose a number of key recommendations to introduce a PLE framework into Bangladesh.     

Refugees in Russia: the Law on Refugees and its Implementation

Since the adoption of a new Russian Law on Refugees in 1997,the number of recognized refugees has dropped drastically. TheLaw has a definition of the term ‘refugee’ almostidentical to that of the 1951 Convention. But many provisionsof the Law are contradictory to Russia's international obligations.After a short look at the background to the issue, the Law onRefugees is examined. Then the implementation of the Law iscompared with the situation before its entry into force. Thedifficult life conditions of refugees and asylum seekers areconsidered to be partly a result of the legal provisions andtheir realization. The factors that contribute to the presentsituation are discussed. While certain provisions of the existingLaw need to be amended, it has to be implemented in order toprovide international protection to asylum seekers.     

Women and Work in Iran

The post-revolutionary government in Iran presents its approach to women as a template for other Islamic nations to follow. By reconstructing the Koranic laws to meet the demands of time, it argues that Muslim women have secure and eternal independent economic and social rights. This is not so. Since the revolution Iranian women have systematically lost out in the formal labour market. But in recent years they have made a concerted effort to capture the Islamic discourse to contest the legitimacy of some of the formal obstacles placed on their access to paid employment.