Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
This classic study extends feminist analysis to economics, but rejects setting up an economics solely for women. It is the first full length, single authored book to focus on gender bias in contemporary economics.
Synopsis
Feminism, Objectivity and Economics analyzes the gender biases implicit in the definition of economics, and the discipline's methods and models. The emphasis on questions of choice and markets, on mathematical methods, and on models based on individual, rational actions reflect a way of conceptualizing the world which has a distinctly masculine slant.
Feminism, Objectivity and Economics extends feminist analysis of the influence of masculine norms on Western science to the specific case of economics. Julie A. Nelson, a leader in the field of feminist economics, both evaluates the core models of neoclassical economics, and presents case studies on topics including the theory of the family, income tax policy, and macroeconomics. She does not simply berate economists for the discipline's failings—she explicitly rejects the alternatives of setting up an economics solely for women or for "women's issues." Rather, she presents the outlines of a less gender-biased discipline which would be richer, more useful and more objective. She argues that a discipline informed by feminist theory would be an improved one, for all practitioners and all subjects.
Booknews
An evaluation of the US Human Genome Project and how the research project and its goal of mapping human genetics will affect future generations. Heller (Director, Center for Ethics, Saint Joseph's Health System) investigates the implications of genetic research from a theological perspective, examining the economic, political, and philosophical issues that the project's biomedical applications will eventually articulate. She considers that some people will pay an inordinate social cost, advocating an "impersonal theocentric" approach to value the theological implications of the problem. Paper edition (unseen), $16.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)