Winner, 2026 ISA Feminist Theory and Gender Studies Book Prize
People around the world engage in gender practices that many believe clash with women's rights. But that clash isn't inevitable. Imperial Sexism: Why Culture and Women's Rights Don't Clash (Oxford University Press, 2025), draws on interviews with 100 activists, policymakers, and women navigating policy debates about controversial gender practices in France, South Africa, and Canada to show how that clash gets made and who benefits from it. Practices like veiling and polygyny have become political battlegrounds, but the real fight isn't about culture versus women's rights. It's about who gets to weaponize that clash and who pays the price. The problem is imperial sexism: how racism and sexism compound to harm the women involved in these practices. By centering these women, the book shows how to bring cultural, religious, and women's rights into agreement, minimizing harm and advancing justice for these women and their communities.
People around the world engage in gender practices that many believe clash with women's rights. But that clash isn't inevitable. Imperial Sexism: Why Culture and Women's Rights Don't Clash (Oxford University Press, 2025), draws on interviews with 100 activists, policymakers, and women navigating policy debates about controversial gender practices in France, South Africa, and Canada to show how that clash gets made and who benefits from it. Practices like veiling and polygyny have become political battlegrounds, but the real fight isn't about culture versus women's rights. It's about who gets to weaponize that clash and who pays the price. The problem is imperial sexism: how racism and sexism compound to harm the women involved in these practices. By centering these women, the book shows how to bring cultural, religious, and women's rights into agreement, minimizing harm and advancing justice for these women and their communities.
Dr. Denise M. Walsh, Ph.D. New School for Social Research Professor, University of Virginia Departments of Politics Photo Credits: Bailey Photography |
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