A growing body of evidence demonstrates that improvements in the status of women and girls - however worthy and important in their own right - also drive the prosperity, stability, and security of families, communities, and nations. Yet despite many indicators of progress, women and girls everywhere - including countries of the developed world - continue to confront barriers to their full and equal participation in social, economic, and political life.

Capturing voices and experiences from around the world, this work documents the modern history of the global women's movement - its many accomplishments and setbacks. Drawing together prominent pioneers and contemporary policymakers, activists, and scholars, the volume interrogates where and why progress has met resistance and been slowed, and examine the still unfinished agenda for change in national and international policy arenas. This history and roadmap are especially critical for younger generations who need a better understanding of this rich feminist legacy and the intense opposition that women's movements have generated.

This book creates a clear and forceful narrative about women's agency and the central relevance of women's rights movements to global and national policy-making.. It is essential reading for activists and policymakers, students and scholars alike.

'It is essential that we create a new normal-in our homes, in our nations, and in this United States-and that is what the dedicated and talented women and men whose voices are represented in this book are doing every day. The book is a treasure because it tells their stories.' - Gloria Steinem, author, lecturer, editor, and feminist activist 'Women and girls keep this world spinning; they are also the key to keeping it from spinning out of control. Women and Girls Rising moves smoothly between personal and particular accounts--stirring testimony from Brazil, Iran, Pakistan, China, Uganda, China, and the United States graces this volumes --and analysis, eschewing policyspeak without abandoning policy or politics. The result is humane and instructive, a data-driven but never arid defense of the feminism needed to promote social justice in a world in need. Read this book and see a vibrant and global movement placing women and girls at the center of agendas for health and human rights--and for social and economic progress that doesn't wreck our fragile and beautiful planet.' - Dr Paul Farmer, M.D., Harvard University and Partners In Health, USA "As we mark the twentieth anniversary of the Beijing Conference, no volume will be more instructive in helping us understand the progress we've made and the backlash it has engendered than a new book edited by Dr. Ellen Chesler and Terry McGovern, entitled "Women and Girls Rising: Progress and resistance around the world."? This book documents the history of the modern global women's movement and examines where and why women and girls have seen progress in a range of areas, from education to economic justice to shifts in cultural and social norms.?It is clear that while we have seen much progress in the twenty years since Beijing, much more work still remains. .Ellen and Terry's book, has done much not only to document the history of the global women's movement, but also to illuminate the path forward." -- Rachel Vogelstein, Senior Fellow and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations "Ellen Chesler and Terry McGovern have co-edited a timely and important collection of analytical essays and personal reflections in their new volume, Women and Girls Rising. The volume offers a thoughtful reckoning of the influence of the U.N. Conference on Women held in Beijing." -- Alison Bernstein of Rutgers University "(The good news is that official recognition of women's issues worldwide, which are perhaps more varied and nuanced now than ever before, has grown dramatically since Eleanor Roosevelt's time; the bad news is that oppressive conditions on the ground have not changed nearly enough.) Change has simply not kept pace with the need for change, a theme running through the entire book. That theme doesn't dim the optimism, but it's a constant companion" -- Erin Aubry Kaplan, Ms. Magazine "On the whole, this is an excellent book which will be enlightening for postgraduates interested in interdisciplinary research in political economy, although its central thesis is relevant to all of the social sciences. Of particular merit is Holland's re-interpretation of the work of several key political economy thinkers in terms of critical realism. Holland also provides an interesting record of the struggles experienced by practitioners of interdisciplinarity - struggles that an engagement with critical realism would largely eradicate." -- Leigh price, Rhodes University, South Africa/ University College London, UK