This text reader provides a broad-ranging feminist introduction to the ongoing controversies of development in Latin America and the Caribbean, and identifies key trends and debates in the scholarly literature on women and gender in the region.

This indispensable text reader provides a broad-ranging and thoughtfully organized feminist introduction to the ongoing controversies of development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Designed for use in a variety of college courses, the volume collects an influential group of essays first published in Latin American Perspectives. Each part is organized into thematic sections that focus on work, politics, and culture, and each includes substantive introductions that identify key issues in the scholarly literature on women and gender in the region. Demonstrating the rich, multidisciplinary nature of Latin American studies, these essays promote critical thinking about women's place and power, about theory and research strategies, and about contemporary economic, political, and social conditions. They convincingly show why women have become an increasingly important subject of research, acknowledge their gains and struggles over time, and explore the contributions that feminist theory has made toward the recognition of gender as a relevant-indeed essential-category for analyzing the political economy of development.