Product Description

This radical analysis of globalization reveals the crucial role of women in international politics today. Cynthia Enloe pulls back the curtain on the familiar scenes - governments promoting tourism, companies moving their factories overseas, soldiers serving on foreign soil - and shows that the real landscape is not exclusively male. She describes how many women's seemingly personal strategies - in their marriages, in their housework, in their coping with ideals of beauty - are, in reality, the stuff of global politics. In exposing policymakers' reliance on false notions of "femininity" and "masculinity," Enloe dismantles an apparently overwhelming world system, revealing it to be much more fragile and open to change than we think.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #166856 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 244 pages

Review
"Bananas, Beaches and Bases is the most significant book in contemporary feminist international politics. In my view, it is the essential text not only for feminist international politics courses but for anyone interested in starting to understand just how International Politics really works." - Marysia Zalewski, author of Feminism After Postmodernism: Theorising Through Practice "A new edition of Bananas, Beaches and Bases is cause for cosmic good cheer. This trailblazing treatment of the gender politics of global market and military projects is a feminist classic. Always ahead of the curve, before globalization had achieved cache in academic circles, Enloe was there, cajoling Western feminists out of our political parochialism. There is no more creative, insightful, engaging feminist guide to international politics." - Judith Stacey, author of Brave New Families "Bananas, Beaches and Bases is both a 'Pandora's box' and a roadmap. As the 'magna carta' of Feminist International Relations, it has helped create a new generation of women and men in the world of international relations." - Katharine Moon,author of Sex Among Allies "With this volume, Cynthia Enloe single-handedly carved out a major new field. Combining contemporary political insight and historical sensitivity, Bananas, Beaches and Bases revealed the gendered workings of high politics, without which the entire machinery of war, diplomacy and governance would have long since collapsed. A pioneering tour-de-force." - Philippa Levine,author of Victorian Feminism, 1850-1900"

About the Author
Cynthia Enloe is Professor of Government at Clark University and author of Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives (California, 2000), The Morning After: Sexual Politics at the End of the Cold War (California, 1993), and Does Khaki Become You? (1988).

Customer Reviews

An Entertaining Read
My brother brought this home from school. He said he hated it. I read it and loved it. Some of her theories are a little far-out, but most of what she says makes sense. Her major point is "The personal is political, the personal is international." Enloe makes some amazing and original connections between institutions and policies that are considered inherent and gender roles. Don't limit this to the text book category.